


Last Night On Earth

by peacehopeandrats



Series: Growing Up [10]
Category: Gargoyles (Cartoon), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, A Monthly Rumbelling August 2020, Date Night, F/M, Family, Graduation, LTBTQ, Las Vegas, M/M, Missing Years, Pool Party
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:15:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 40,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25962685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacehopeandrats/pseuds/peacehopeandrats
Summary: Now that the Golds know about Gideon's acceptance into Elphame Academy, it is time that they let him go. Always reluctant to say goodbye Rumple has schemed up a grand graduation-type celebration that he wants to be a complete surprise, but Gideon is so unaware of the plan that the oddity of it is bringing him down.Half Rumbelle role playing (as Lacey and a Weaverish character named Spinner), half gay pool party, and ALL Las Vegas.Written for Monthly Rumbelling, August 2020Nominated for Best Bathing Scene and Best Side Pairing (Gideon/Chad) in the 2021 TEASThank you.
Relationships: Angela/Broadway (Gargoyles), Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Gideon/Original Character, Lexington/Staghart (Gargoyles)
Series: Growing Up [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1035851
Comments: 12
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yet again the Monthly Rumbelling feeds my need to get things written for Growing Up. The moodboard that prompted this story can be found here:  
> https://a-monthly-rumbelling.tumblr.com/post/626607268476125184/halfway-point

The Golds had been to many places in their lifetimes, but Gideon never once thought that his father would end up insisting on the three of them spending a week in Las Vegas. He always seemed to loathe the idea of milling about in a town built up from the things he was opposed to, yet here they were, in a suite at the end of what everyone called “The Strip,” and all because Gideon would soon be leaving them.

Elphame Academy’s acceptance letter had come as both a wonderful surprise and a sharp reminder that their adventures as a family were quickly diminishing. Gideon was excited to go, of course, but now that he was faced with separation from the two most important people in his life, he was desperate for more time with them. Yet his father was adamant that this week be filled with things that Gideon would be welcome to do on his own, and since their arrival things had become even more strange.

“At least I convinced him not to get that four bedroom _castle_ suite,” Gideon snorted as he stared out of the giant glass window into the desert below. The mountains in the distance were a variation of browns that were turning purple in the light of the setting sun, but he didn’t have the heart to think of the family’s running joke on the color. 

Behind him, the door to the suite opened and he turned to see his father stride in, bags of recently purchased clothing in his hand. “Big night tonight, Gideon. Decide what you are going to do yet?”

Gideon sighed. “Papa, I know you want to make this a big celebration, but… it’s only more schooling.”

“You’re going away, son.” Rumple dropped the bags onto the marble counter by the bedroom he and Belle had claimed and came over to reach a hand up to Gideon’s shoulder, clamping it there gently. “To one of the most prestigious schools of magic in any of the realms. That’s something you should be _more_ than proud of. You need to celebrate. I’ve tied you up in my quest to be rid of the dagger for too long. Is it so wrong that I wanted to bring you to a place that was practically _built_ on celebration?”

“I’m grateful, I truly am, but I wasn’t burdened by your quest and I would have been happy to have spent my last days with you and mother.” Gideon glanced out the window again as the lights below blinked on, one at a time, wakening to their evening duties.

“And you will do,” Rumple assured him, hand almost flinching where it rested on Gideon. The motion was one the younger man knew well. His father was worried, hiding some fear or pain that he didn’t want anyone else to notice. “But tonight is about _you_.”

Not wanting to hurt his father’s feelings even more, Gideon nodded his head in answer, but said nothing.

“Gideon.” The forced calm in his father’s voice turned Gideon to stare down at the thin line of his father’s worried gaze. “Did I make the wrong choice? If you aren’t happy here, I-” Rumplestiltskin’s voice cracked horribly and moisture began to gather in his eyes.

“It isn’t wrong, Papa,” Gideon insisted quickly. “Just unusual. It wasn’t at all what I expected.”

“Well it is tradition in this realm for young men like yourself to celebrate your last nights of freedom.” His father smiled, but it was a thing built on uncertainty. Deep brown eyes probed into Gideon’s very soul before they blinked, releasing a tear that was quickly wiped away. “I’ll call down to the front desk, cancel our reservation. We can… go somewhere else.”

Gideon rolled his head back with a groan. “Papa. No. You and mother have a date tonight. I _want_ you to go out together.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is _your_ week, not ours.” Striding across the room, his father reached for the telephone and lifted it to his ear.

Before he could even take a breath, Gideon lurched forward after him, catching the receiver and returning it to where it belonged. “Don’t do this, Papa.”

“Well I don’t want to _force_ you into doing something you wouldn’t enjoy.” Rumple’s hands moved through the air, gesturing at the door and the room around them. “This was my mistake, my judgment call, and if it made you this unhappy, then I made the wrong one. What kind of father would I be if I made you stay here?”

“A better one than the one who would have forced me into that mansion of a suite with the spiral staircase and _four_ bedrooms?” Gideon lifted his eyebrows and quirked his lips up into a smile to try and lift his father’s spirits.

He got a hum of acceptance in return. “Well, maybe that _was_ a bit much,” his father admitted. The truth felt thick between them, a hazy thing that was confusing and surreal.

Gideon thought about the investigating he’d done after the family had moved from the grand suite to this more modest part of the hotel and weighed his options. The mall downstairs offered opportunities to shop for parting gifts for his parents and there he had noticed that the neighboring hotel was having a special pool party that night, advertised as all muscled men draped over each other. It was called Temptation Sundays and the temptation was certainly lingering in his mind.

“There _is_ something I might like to do tonight,” he confessed, making his father beam with delight. “ _If_ we decide to leave, we can go tomorrow. You and mother should have your date as well.” He moved to one of the discarded bags and poked around inside, passing judgment on the outfit that his father had chosen. “Not your usual style.”

“Well,” Rumple told him as he caught up the handles and ducked into his bedroom with a wink and a knowing smile. “This isn’t your usual place.”

* * *

When a building was the size of a city block, finding what you needed inside of it was a balance of difficulty and simplicity. Belle had discovered this as she had wandered the hotel and the mall connecting it, searching desperately for the outfit she would need for her evening with Rumple. Store after store had come close, but nothing had been exactly what she’d hoped for. Oh, everything was fancy enough, in fact, there wasn’t a simple garment to be had, but her needs on this day were exact and took her through every door whose advertisements suggested dresses might be sold within.

She found the blue sequined gown after hours of extensive searching that included thirty minute blocks of time where she drove some very polite sales people to the brink of insanity with her questions and comments. Even the time she spent in the salon, having her skin, nails and hair pampered and teased into something new couldn’t quite erase the twinge of guilt she felt at having pushed her rather particular opinions onto so many people. Chatter around her shared by patrons fussing over the cut of their hair or the chip in a nail suggested that this was a town of particulars and her demands probably fit right in, and _almost_ erased her unease about her upcoming evening with Rumple… until she entered the family’s hotel suite and her son squealed in terror.

“Oh, Mother! No, no, no!” Gideon rushed over to the entry before she had barely stepped past the threshold. His hands reached out to her hair and tested it, running a single messy curl between his fingertips before looking down at them as if he expected to find them soiled. “No, Mother… What happened?” 

_Bless his heart, he is going to_ cry _, in a minute!_ Belle practically shouted at herself as she glanced at the closed door to her bedroom and guided them to Gideon’s room at the opposite side of the rounded suite. She was going to kill Rumplestiltskin for putting their son through this torment, all for the sake of his own pleasures. Pushing the door closed, Belle quickly dropped the bag to the floor and pulled Gideon down to rest his head on her shoulder. She shushed him and ran her newly manicured fingers through his hair and tried desperately not to cry herself.

“It’s just a little color,” she said once Gideon pulled away to take in her appearance again. “I went to the salon and spoiled myself a little. Is that all right?” She tried to make her tone lighthearted, but wasn’t certain that she succeeded.

“But… your hair.” Gideon again ran his fingers through the newly dyed strands, his expression serious. “Papa loved you _just_ the way you were. You didn’t have to look younger for him just because he doesn’t age or because everyone here looks-”

Belle tried not to laugh, but found she couldn’t hold in her amusement. “Is _that_ what you think this is? You think I’m worried about how old I look?” She nodded him to the bed and ducked into the bathroom for a quick change, but kept the door propped open so they could continue talking. 

“Well, I thought… I mean…” Her son stumbled over his words as her bags rustled and she fumbled with the fastenings of the simple clothes she was currently wearing.

“I only wanted to surprise your father with a hint of Lacey tonight,” she told him while she changed. “This city is exactly the type of place I think she would have felt at home in, or at least had _fun_ in and I thought that for one night I might want to relive those nights I spent as Lacey. Be adventurous in ways only she had been.”

She stepped back into the room then, fingers still struggling with the zipper of the blue sequined dress that she _hoped_ came close enough to what Lacey would have worn. It was certainly cut short enough, though the style wasn’t quite to her cursed self’s tastes. The way it settled on her hips was all wrong, the sleeves were far too short, and the way the fabric dove off her shoulders toward her spine was more elegant than she’d wanted, but it was close. The only piece of clothing in the entire building that could match what she wore on that first date at Granny’s that hadn’t been a first date after all.

Gentleman that he was, Gideon stood to help her, easily pushing the zipper along her spine and making a show of settling the sparkling fabric properly on her shoulders. “Is _this_ what Lacey was?”

Belle looked down at herself, then moved so that she could judge her appearance in the full length mirror. “Mostly,” she decided after a moment of fiddling with her mess of tumbling curls. “A little older, but I _know_ your father won’t mind that.” She turned to Gideon then and reached up to cup his face. “And don’t worry, it’s temporary color. It’ll wash out after a while and that gray will be back before you know it.”

“I just worried Papa would think you were trying to change for him and get even more upset than he already is,” Gideon told her, dropping back to the bed again as he flung his arm at the closed door. “He is acting _very_ strangely tonight.” Her son’s eyes wandered over her again, their gaze catching on the length of her dress and scrutinizing it severely. “You _both_ are.”

“He tried to back out, didn’t he?” She moved to sit beside him and took his hand, patting it gently. “I told him this would be too hard.”

“ _What_ would be too hard?” Gideon almost yelled the words, his frustration burning in his eyes, hand clenching into a fist beneath Belle’s touch. “Bringing me to a giant, noisy place that’s all glittering lights and bars and-”

“You like New York,” Belle reminded him gently. “At least here you can see what’s behind the buildings. Look up at the sky.” They were questions rather than answers. She couldn’t give him the answers that she knew he wanted. Not for a few more hours, anyway. It was maddening and the guilt of this pulled at her heart worse than any she’d felt before.

“This _isn’t_ New York, Mother.” The words were a frustrated growl and Belle reached up to touch his cheek again, brushed some hair back into place, and gave him the warmest smile she could manage, hoping it would melt him just enough to get him through this impossible time. “I don’t understand why Papa feels that _this_ is where I should spend my last days with you. We could have gone camping again, floated in the realm of happiness, made snow castles in Arendelle, picnicked at the Arcade De La Vie, sailed across the Pacific Ocean, even. But we’re here. And it isn’t like Papa to _want_ to be here _or_ to be this excited about some place he’d only given offhand remarks about. So please, Mother… Tell me why.”

Trapped by the two men in her life, Belle sighed heavily and closed her eyes. “All I know is that this was your father’s plan and that I trust him with all of my heart. So whatever brought us here, whatever it is that seems to have this hold on him… I’m willing to give it a try.”

“Easy for you to say,” Gideon teased, nudging her shoulder with his own. “You have a hot date.”

“I’m being serious, Gideon,” she yelped back, just as playfully before growing quiet again and taking his hands. “Give him tonight,” she begged. “And from tomorrow until the very last moment you are with us, everything will be made from your own dreams. I promise.”

There was a long moment of hesitation before Gideon finally whispered an agreement and nodded his head. He muttered something about just wanting to make certain that his father was all right and that she was comfortable before judging her outfit again with narrowed eyes. She kissed his cheek and left him then because she simply had no other choice. One moment more and she would most certainly have put an end to the entire, grand plan.

* * *

Nothing so far had gone to plan. It had taken a week to find and arrange the four bedroom suite whose design loosely resembled something one would expect of Castle Wyvern at the Eyrie tower and only a minute of standing inside of its great living space for Gideon to reject it as something too flashy and extravagant for the family’s needs. The florist clearly hadn’t been redirected to the family’s new location even after repeated guarantees had been made that the delivery would continue as planned. Rumple had stealthily followed Belle around the shops in the mall for hours without catching a single hint of what her choice of clothing would be for tonight’s date. And now Gideon was sulking like a moody teenager, miserable over what he was presuming to be his father’s arrogance that was kicking up the dust of the desert he most _certainly_ didn’t want to be in.

Half dressed, Rumple dropped to the desk in his room, placed his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. He wanted to weep from the pain of it all, hated himself for putting his son through such torture on the final days they would have together as a true family. In a week’s time his son, the tiny babe he’d held in his arms, protected from every evil, and lifted up to the light of every known realm, would walk off into a portal and begin his journey as a man. They would have him only when he could arrange visits, they would have letters, but they would never again have the days that were lost. Soon it would be time to let go and Rumple wasn’t ready to do it.

A yelp from the living room startled his sobs into silence. Beyond the closed door he could hear Gideon’s protests, the familiar sounds of Belle’s hurried footsteps, and the quiet latching of a distant door. So she was home and Gideon had come running to her with all of his miseries. Rumple had failed. He looked at the clock and imagined a future an hour away where his date with Belle would be going so horribly wrong that it made him miss his rendezvous with the others. He would be unable to give them his key card, and worsen Gideon’s evening further by forcing him to go to that pool party all on his own.

Rumplestiltskin flopped back into the desk chair and gazed out at the ridge of dry mountains in the distance. Somewhere in his heart he pulled out a memory of staring through freshly cleaned glass into mountains giving birth to the new signs of spring. His heart skipped when the memory of Belle caught up to him, standing beside him in her simple blue work dress, grinning at the result of her handiwork, which, it turned out, hadn’t been the windows at all. It had been him.

“No,” he muttered to himself before pushing away from the desk. He could feel the old, impish Rumple crawling around somewhere in his chest, pressing at his throat, changing his voice, but he didn’t stop it. If that was the type of lecture he needed now, it was exactly the lecture he was going to get. “I won’t fall into that pattern again. I’m not that man any longer. I’m not a failure. This is my _son’s_ evening, not my own, and the fact that he _doesn’t_ know it yet is only proof of my abilities.”

Framed centrally in a tall mirror, Rumple’s reflection caught his eye, all bare chest and designer jeans that left little to the imagination. Tonight he wouldn’t be Gold or Rumple or the Dark One. Tonight he was going to be the man who owned everything around him, the man who only had to snap his fingers to provide everything his wife and child needed to have the time of their lives.

In a flash he dressed, donning a plain shirt, then a buttoned one, and finally a jacket with a high standing collar that the man in the shop had insisted would bring class to his semi-casual attire. Deftly Rumple flipped the collar up against his neck and tugged the jacket’s sides smartly in place before taking another look at the man he so desperately wanted to be. He was collected and confident and felt a toughness gathering in himself that seemed to have planted itself there as a result of his new style. Quite suddenly he felt he belonged here, a man with his girl on his arm, strolling among gaming tables, smirking at anyone who dared to glance his way.

“Now or never,” he told himself. “What was it Emma was always saying? ‘I've got this?’” Rumple shrugged, then shook his head and pulled at that invisible string of the savior that was forever drifting away from him. “I've got this,” he told himself again, voice strong. “I've got this.”

Before he could change his mind, he reached for the door and threw it open, striding forward with no regard to what might be in his way. Two steps in he practically collided with a scrap of blue sequined fabric and almost stumbled backwards, grabbing the frame of the entry to keep from dropping to the floor. In front of him stood the spitting image of Lacey, aged, perhaps, but just as stunningly beautiful as the day he first met her in that dreadful bar.

“Lacey.” The name eased out of him so casually that he barely registered he’d used the wrong one. “Belle.”

The woman in front of him smiled and folded her arms over her chest as her eyes roamed down his body to the buckle of the belt he wore. Rumple knew when they lingered that he’d made the right choice. “Lacey’s fine,” she answered with a confidence that seemed to creep its way inside of him and make him twitch with anticipation. “Should I assume you’re my blind date, Mister…”

“Spinner,” Rumple threw out quickly, snatching at the first thing that could come to his mind.

Belle-who-was-Lacey quirked an eyebrow up and tilted her head to the side. “You come with a first name too, Mister Spinner?”

Rumple stepped forward until his lips were barely touching the curve of her ear. “Oh, you’ve got to earn that. I don’t share _private_ things with just anyone,” he whispered, voice dripping with his need for her. “Haven’t you been told? All magic…” As he paused, mid sentence, and let himself press ever closer until he could _just_ feel the warmth of her through the tightness in his jeans. “…comes with a price.”

“Spinner it is, then,” Lacey rasped, frozen in place though Rumple had wandered across the room on his way to the door. Her beautiful neck, exposed now that her hair was piled loosely on top of her head, twisted to allow her gaze to follow him. She looked as if someone had captured her in time, rooted her feet to the floor and refused her mobility, but in a breath the spell snapped away from her and she shook her head free from it before following him to the exit. “If the price of _that_ magic is never knowing the rest, I’ll promise to stick with calling you Spinner. All. Night. Long.”

The gleam in Belle’s eyes made Rumple shiver with delight and from across the room he could see an open mouthed Gideon blinking dumbly in their direction, lips curled up at the corners in an astonished smile. Rumple winked at his son and mouthed “have fun” over his shoulder as he escorted his date to the hallway. Perhaps tonight wasn’t such a lost cause after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Playing the part of Lacey was surprisingly easy after so many years of suppressing the cursed memories that had come with her. Belle practically dripped off of Rumple’s arm as they moved casually down the hall from their suite to the elevator, whispering in his ear, and letting the giggles of her anticipation consume her. She flirted, she teased, she stopped him twice to press close and feel the textures of the various fabrics he had on, but she always let him go in the end. The beginning of their date came with a timetable that Gideon had no idea of and no matter how eager she was to spend one, final night in a place that practically swallowed up all inhibitions, she had no intentions of denying her son his.

Once they were finally in the elevator, she released the Lacey in her with a single breath and turned to face her husband, now purely Belle, the concerned mother and loving wife. “Gideon is so very upset at being here. Are you sure we did the right thing by not telling him?”

“Positive,” Rumple answered quickly, dropping his own act for the time being. The single word seemed contrary to the emotion that came with it, but Belle refused to point that out to him. They were both worried, she knew. It wasn’t like their son to be so moody and miserable. If he was showing his emotion, things were unquestionably worse than what he was letting on. “He might not like where he is now, but as soon as everything falls into place, he’ll change his mind. He already noticed the advertisements for the pool party tonight and seems unable to resist going, just as I’d expected. All _we_ have to do is meet the others.”

Belle worried at her lip. “You’re certain he will go?” 

“Not entirely,” Rumple shrugged. “But I know what is in his heart and I seriously doubt that a pool full of attractive young men wearing nothing but bathing suits is going to be something he could pass up.”

The elevator doors opened then and the couple stepped out, Rumple guiding Belle through the casino toward the hotel’s parking deck. His eyes were darting around as if he were on the hunt for something and once or twice he ducked as if trying to get a better view of a mysterious object some distance away. It was comical, but she tried not to laugh as they moved along. Their progress was dependent on the others who were strolling ahead of them and she knew it was frustrating him. 

“I wish these places had windows,” Rumple finally grumbled as they were slowed once again. He craned his neck when they passed a row of glass doors that looked like they might open to the road, but tisked in frustration when he didn’t catch sight of what he was hoping for.

“Can’t do that,” Belle teased. “Everyone would be able to keep track of how long they spent sitting and gambling.”

Rumple hissed and muttered under his breath. “Vile place.”

“Yet you brought us here in the end,” she reminded him as they hurried along.

“Only because I knew Gideon deserved a good time. He grew up so differently from everyone else and a good part of that is _my_ fault, Belle.” Rumple sighed and paused as they reached the wall of doors that opened out to the lot where vehicles were stacked in their concrete pen, layer upon layer. “I wanted him to have _fun_ for a change, to be the young man he was meant to be, not the son of a man who toted him around all the realms searching for answers to his problems.”

“What if he _is_ the man he was meant to be?” Belle tipped her head at him and a loose curl dropped in front of her eyes.

Rumple reached out to tuck the hair behind her ear and shook his head. “I won’t deny him the chance to find out,” he insisted. “If I’m wrong and tonight turns out to be a big mistake, we still have a week with him. We can take him anywhere he wants to go.”

The promise settled inside of her like a balm on a wound and Belle nodded slowly. “All right,” she agreed before opening one of the doors and walking through. The light outside was diminishing quickly, but she still scanned every level of the building ahead of them, hoping to catch a glimpse of movement. When her eyes hit the very top, they widened. “There,” she pointed almost straight up above their heads. “They’re here.”

Called down by her cries, four figures made up of sharp angles and round lines rose beyond the concrete wall of the upper most level of the parking deck and plummeted to the ground below. Their descent was silent but for the swooping sounds of air caught in bat-like wings. Keeping to the shadows between the two buildings, the creatures crunched heavily onto the pavement, one after the other, then moved as a group into a natural nook made by the building, where they would be hidden away from prying eyes.

Eager to complete this part of his mission, Belle hurried Rumple along the outer wall, following the path the creatures had taken until they came face to face with the toothy grins of some very familiar faces. “A little risky,” Rumple huffed as he rummaged around in the inside pockets of his jacket for the spare key cards he’d had made, then nodded at the head of the only creature he hadn’t yet met. “Especially with those antlers.”

The white, winged stag glanced upwards as if he could see the long ornaments that sprouted from his head, then shrugged. “Who’s to say I’m not one of the performers for the hotel’s new show?” His voice was clearly accented from the London area, and pitched in the middle range. It also fluctuated between masculine and effeminate in a way that felt almost like a melody. It was warm and kind and Belle knew she was simply going to love the creature attached to it.

Eager to greet her son’s friends, Belle distributed warm hugs to the others while Rumple spoke with first the newcomer and then Broadway. The first greeting went to Angela, who quietly assured her that their many flights across the country had happened without a hitch. When she turned next to Lexington, a small portion of her joy slipped away. The slim gargoyle stood at his full height before her, eyes bright with excitement. Over the years they had known each other, he and Gideon had grown closer in age rather than keeping the age gap they had begun with, a situation most friends never had to face. The olive skinned gargoyle had cared for him as a baby, played with him as a young boy, taken him around New York as a teen, and was now here as a witness to Gideon’s transition to manhood. His presence only made her realize how unusual her son’s life truly had been.

There was also the pull of a semi-romantic history between the two that Belle couldn’t help wondering over. Gideon once held a torch for the smallest of the clan, one snuffed out once he realized that his friend had already chosen a mate of his own. There had been tension between them for only a day or two before they began a new sort of bonding process, one that focused on their newly discovered similarities and tastes in suitors. Though the gargoyle’s natural intelligence was most probably the biggest draw for a boy who wanted to know everything about anything, Belle could suddenly see what her son admired physically in the form in front of her and hoped that the night the two families had planned wouldn’t rehash the long forgotten awkwardness between them, especially since she knew the stag was Lexington’s mate.

“Hey, Belle,” Lexington said as he reached out a hand for her to grasp. Once Gideon had confessed his attraction, the gargoyle had treated her with an air of formality that the others lacked, something she always assumed had to do with their culture or the time they had been taken from. The propriety was always a bit of a surprise, especially since there was no formal courtship, but it was never unwelcome and it made Belle feel better about the choices Gideon would make when deciding on companionship in the years to come. “How’s he doing?”

“Confused,” she admitted sadly. “And miserable. He rejected the suite we had arranged, so we spent quite a bit of time in secret negotiations with the hotel to try and keep it while also pretending to book something much smaller for the week we planned to stay here. He’s up there brooding right now, probably because he’s here and not visiting you in New York.”

“Well, we will soon change that, I expect,” the stag added cheerfully before bowing to her.

“This is Staghart, my mate.” Lexington reached out to clasp the hand of the well muscled beast only once he was standing upright again.

Belle answered the bow with a curtsy and a smile. “And I’m Belle. I’ve heard so much about you, but only as far as what Gideon could see on the video calls Lexington arranged. I’m sure he will be excited to meet you.”

“Well, with any luck he won’t know he’s meeting us at all!” Broadway’s boast made Belle turn to see that his conversation with Rumple had ended and their items had been exchanged.

The glow of artificial light barely caught the rim of polished gold that Rumple held carefully in his hands. Molded into the form of a beautiful, burning sun, the over-sized amulet was only one piece of a magical puzzle that Rumple had been working on for the better part of six months and seeing the real item in his hands brought a gasp from Belle.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as she bent to study the stones in the sun’s face. “Those are the four gems?”

“Connected to these pendants,” Angela told her as she lifted the one she wore. “Zafiro was kind enough to agree to loan them all to us, under the condition the spell cast on them would be either temporary or removed.” She looked at Rumple, who nodded.

“It will be. He has nothing to fear.”

Belle looked from one to the other, brow wrinkling in confusion. “If the pendants work at any distance from the amulet, why did you need to bring it here?”

“Because the only way to add the glamor spell into the sun’s enchantments was to have it here with me. Once the spell is in place it will work together with what has already been cast on the stones until I remove it.” Rumple spoke as he led the group around the parking deck, to the back, where they would be completely hidden from view. “I need the pendants and some time,” he told the others as he set the solar disk carefully on the ground at his feet.

Each gargoyle removed the item from around their necks and held it out to him, but instead of taking them, he pointed at the stones set into the sun’s ancient form. One by one the crystals were aligned and one by one the participants stepped back, each taking in a breath of hope as they moved.

“You really think it will work?” Lexington breathed as Rumple settled himself to begin the spell.

“We’ll know soon enough,” Rumple answered before the magic began.

* * *

Temptation Sunday was billed as the hottest, sexiest party on the strip. Posters and advertisements gave off the visual of scantly clad men with chiseled bodies in swimwear that left little to the imagination. Gideon knew the difference between advertisements and reality, of course, but that didn’t mean that he was going to force himself to attend in his regular board shorts that were suited perfectly to his family’s outings. The party tonight was _anything_ but a family outing and if he was going to enjoy it in the way he was meant to, he was going to need something that might just push his own comfort boundaries just a tad.

Gideon’s tastes in clothing were usually in the range of something casual, tunics and loose fitting shirts that were comfortable and practical, but still pleasing to the eye. The cloth was also very plain in most of what he wore, which made finding modern bathing suits something of a nuisance. He had been in one swim shop after another, but found only brightly patterned shorts in a cut that either resembled his own or left absolutely _nothing_ to the imagination, and all in colors that simply didn’t fit his personality. He was happy to indulge his wilder side while he was here, but only so long as the indulgence was a statement about who he was. 

Nothing he’d seen in the stores had cried out “I belong to Gideon.” There had been a few of the swim suits that seemed to come close, but one wasn’t available in an appropriate size and another was simply a groan-worthy compilation of colorful swirls that looked far too much like magic gone wrong. Still another choice was perfect except for the rather prominent pouch meant to bring his manhood front and center, dangle it ahead of him as if he were wearing nothing at all. In the end he had reluctantly gone with the final shop’s collection of shorts that were, at least, a small bit of everything that he wanted. Now, standing in his bedroom, staring at his reflection, Gideon felt he’d found something whose voice had finally been heard.

The trunks were form fitting with a low, dipping waistline that was tasteful, but would most certainly draw the curious eye downward to where the middle support cupped him perfectly. The legs were cut straight rather than curved up to his hip, and fell in line perfectly with the curve of his backside, blending decency with the tantalizing reveal of flesh denied him by the long, hanging cloth of his other shorts. Perfectly shaped by the suit, his body was covered to a point where it would hopefully leave others wanting _just_ a bit more. It was tasteful, but hot as hell, and made him realize just how eager he was for the party’s hour to arrive.

With a sigh, Gideon covered himself in the combination of jeans and plain shirt that made up most of his wardrobe in this realm, then checked the time. It was still too early to wander next door, so he moved to the living room and flopped onto the L shaped sofa in front of the television. The curtains behind him were open and he stared at the reflection of the mountains on the dark screen preferring their natural beauty over the struggle of sifting through what he knew would be an utterly random and mostly useless array of programming. For the third time since he’d made the decision to leave he checked his pocket for his key card and the money for the entry fee, then dropped his head back in exasperation.

He had _no_ idea if he could do this. Exploring on his own was one thing, but entering a party designed to get men talking, dancing, drinking, and hanging all over each other wasn’t ever something he’d pictured himself doing in his lifetime. There was no doubt it appealed, but the severity of the difference between the newness and his past experiences was beginning to nag at him, whispering in his ear and nudging him to back out.

Just as he was about to change his mind, a knock came at the suite’s door, followed by quite a lot of random babbling and eventually the click of the electric lock. Hearing the knob turn to grant the intruder entry, Gideon bolted to his feet and moved to where he could properly see a complete stranger waltz right into the suite, all smiles and laughter. 

“Well, we meet at last,” the man said, his gorgeous voice tagging him as a man of English descent. “I have to say, I am delighted.”

Behind him, a package of three others pressed through the double doors, two men and a woman, each eerily familiar yet complete strangers at the same time.

“I… I’m sorry,” Gideon told the group. “But I’m afraid there must be some mistake. This suite is taken by my family.”

The smallest of the men flapped a hand in the air, swatting Gideon’s complaint away. “Oh, don’t worry,” his higher pitched voice assured him. The sound of it was so familiar that it made Gideon’s heart skip in his chest, but the sight before him was nothing like what he would have associated with such familiar, cheerful tones and the contrast of truths stabbed him in the chest. “Your father gave us the key. See?” The man held out the piece of plastic as evidence, though he gripped it strangely in his fingers, as if the joints were stiff and uncertain.

Gideon took the card and examined it, then walked to the door and tested it in the slot. Sure enough, the red light of the lock switched easily to green. “My father sent you?” Shutting the door behind himself again, Gideon returned to the gathering that had shifted to the suite’s living area. He stared at each of the strangers in turn, pulling at his memories to figure out just what felt so familiar about them.

As if reading Gideon’s mind, the smallest of the men stretched out his arms, then made an offer. “Here, let me show you.” Immediately he began pulling his shirt over his head to expose a hard and perfectly muscled chest.

Eyes wide with both alarm and anticipation, Gideon flipped through a list of scenarios that tugged at his mind, the topmost of which unexpectedly became that his father had _paid_ for the services of this group as a way to help him unwind and relax into their new surroundings. It was a ridiculous notion and one that Gideon would never have suspected even after ten lifetimes of experience, yet here he stood, open mouthed as the once shirtless man kicked off his shoes and swiftly removed his pants.

Standing in nothing but a tightly fitting bikini-cut bathing suit, the nearly naked man spread his arms and legs wide as if he were about to start into a set of jumping jacks and happily called out, “Tada!”

The cry, or Gideon’s stuttering reaction to it, sent the others into a fit of chuckles which caused the largest of the men to drop heavily onto one of the chairs in the sitting area. His belly jiggled as he held his sides and let the laughter pour out of him. “You’re going to give him a heart attack,” he said in a booming voice. “Come on, be fair. Give him another hint.”

The smaller man sighed and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “All right,” he begrudgingly allowed before stepping back into a part of the room that gave him more space to work with. For a moment Gideon worried the swimsuit was about to be removed, but in the blink of an eye the man who once stood before him was squatting down on all fours, lips curled upwards in a wicked smile, eyes wide and bright with happiness. “How’s that? Something more like what you’re used to, Gideon?”

The sound of his name on the man’s lips, made in that high voice with the hint of gravel, caused tears to burst from Gideon’s eyes. With a yelp of surprise he fell forward, toppling himself over on the man who was a stranger no more. “Lex!” His voice cracked and squeaked with joy as his arms flung around the hot body below him and squeezed it tightly. The feel of human flesh was strange to him, but the size and shape of this man was physically so familiar that Gideon’s arms would know it anywhere. “Oh, I’m such a fool! What an idiot I was being!”

“Yeah, it took you long enough,” Broadway huffed playfully before getting to his feet and reaching out a hand to easily hoist Gideon off of his rookery brother. “For a minute there I thought we’d all have to strip down.”

“To be fair, none of us have ever been here before, nor in these forms,” said the only true stranger to Gideon. “It would have been quite the leap to make to recognize any of your straight away. And well, you three barely wear anything at all in your natural state. I imagine being fully clothed had its disadvantages as well.”

Lexington frowned. “I thought you _liked_ what our clan wore.”

“Oh, I wasn’t complaining. I only thought a protest against clothing was a bit uncharacteristic.” The stranger chose a chair and gestured to it, eyebrows raised. “May I?”

Gideon nodded as Angela addressed the clothing issue. “I think what Broadway is trying to say is that stripping for your _friend_ is mildly disconcerting.”

Broadway reached up to run his fingers through Angela’s long, dark hair and smiled. “Thank you.”

Feeling a hand in his own, Gideon looked down to see Lexington’s unusually pale and strangely slender fingers twined with his own. The sight made his arm twitch and a moment later, his friend’s touch was gone, pulled away in an attempt to hide a flush of embarrassment. “This is Amp,” Lexington told him as he gestured at the seated stranger. 

Recognition of the melodious voice suddenly struck Gideon and he stiffened immediately before forcing himself to take two long strides from Lexington and extend a hand in both greeting and apology. “Amp! Of course! You’ve come a long way, then.” His eyes darted from the humanized stag to his mate and back again. “I am so _very_ sorry for that, I didn’t mean-”

Amp waved him off casually, a smile on his face. “Life is full of events that can part us. We should _all_ be so happy to greet our friends.”

Uncertain of the level of truth in the apology, Gideon chose to quickly change the subject, gesturing at the room, then the door. “Is _this_ why my father has been acting so strangely? And my mother? Please tell me she couldn’t talk to me because she worried she might tell me you were on your way to meet me.”

Broadway’s head bobbed up and down, but it was Angela who answered. “Your father has been working on a way to make us human for some time. When he contacted us to tell us of your acceptance into the academy, we were all so excited. Then he told us he wanted to surprise you, so we worked together to come up with this plan to meet you _here_. We thought if he had taken you straight to New York the surprise would be lost before it even began.”

“Besides,” Amp almost snorted as he got to his feet. “This is the city of parties and celebrations _and_ I hear there’s a party going on tonight.” He moved over to Gideon and draped an arm casually over his shoulders before turning his smile into a devilishly handsome grin that simply dripped with mischief. “And if there is one thing an academy applicant needs to celebrate his acceptance, it’s a decent party.”


	3. Chapter 3

Once the Gargoyles were safely transformed, Rumple found himself trapped by his own machinations. On one hand his wife had given him the enticing gift of an evening with Lacey, which seemed a perfect fit for their current location, but had caught him up in a sort of role play that would prevent the rest of his planned evening from taking place. As a result, the other hand seemed to be constantly reaching for something that it couldn’t have, grasping at ideas that hadn’t been put in place, then tossing them up to his mind for immediate dismissal. The accidental creation of this Spinner character also proved to be a problem, as Rumple had no cursed memories of the man to feed off of, unlike Belle, who had lived as Lacey for at least a short time. 

Beside him, she slipped easily back into her Lacey persona, the change smooth but not at all subtle. She practically dripped from his arm, leaning heavily against him as they retraced their steps through the casino, all loose limbs and fluid movements. Unafraid of who turned to face them, she laughed for all the world to hear, cried out at things that caught her eye, and generally acted as if she had not a single care in the world beyond her own enjoyment of things. Rumple didn’t know how she did it.

“So…” Lacey nudged him out of the line of traffic and into a section of unadorned wall. Her body brushed against him for only a moment as she dropped his left arm to rotate around him and take his right. Voice lowered suggestively, she lifted her chin to try and set it on his shoulder and whisper into his ear. “What sort of plans did you have for me tonight, Mister Spinner?”

Rumple couldn’t help but chuckle, though he wasn’t sure if it was at Lacey, his anticipation of what could be, or the irony that now his plans were all shot to pieces. “Well, I hadn’t expected that _you_ would be joining me, so I think we might have to improvise the first half, but the second half…” He let his eyes wander over her dress before he met her cool blue gaze again. “I think those are ideas best shared once we’re alone.”

Lacey shivered and moved to plant a kiss to his cheek, but ended up with her lips just under his ear. Her tongue tasted him quickly before she stepped away, eyes glinting with pleasure. “Spontaneous, hm? I can go with that.”

They stood for a moment longer before Rumple realized she wasn’t going to offer up any ideas of her own and he swore at himself for not remembering the first strained days of their courtship. Lacey was going to stand here and test him, push him to serve her, to earn her attention, and he was going to clumsily stumble around in the dark, generally making a mess of whatever they did. Deciding that a walk through the hotel would help to give him some ideas, he first reached out to catch her hips and pull them against his own, then kissed her soundly, briefly, before releasing her again and offering up his arm to hold.

“Why don’t we take a stroll, see if anything catches your fancy. Get you a drink before dinner?” Inwardly Rumple kicked himself. Why was it that talking to her earlier had been so easy and now every flirtation seemed like some kind of grand obstacle course?

Thankfully, Lacey agreed without any fuss and the two went through the hotel and beyond, to the mall that connected their building with the one next door. The shopping area was bright and busy, filled with customers flowing in and out of stores, and gatherings of people at the entrances to restaurants. They took their time, wandering, chatting, flirting shamelessly, and occasionally window shopping as they made their way through the crowd, but when they reached the end of the mall’s thoroughfare, Rumple tried a little too hard to move them along and was instantly caught.

“Is there something here you don’t want me to see?” Lacey planted her feet firmly on the ground and refused to be budged.

“Well…” Thankful that he had managed to get Lacey’s back turned from his originally intended destination, Rumple felt the part of him that was trying to be Spinner slip away into the whole of him that was Mister Gold. Anxiety pulled at him, filling him with questions. What if this was their only night? What if they woke tomorrow morning to an even more upset Gideon who only wanted to spend time with his family and friends in places that he knew and loved most? If they left, he and Belle would never have spent an evening in this special place that he had found which was practically their own, but if they stayed and he forced Lacey to go here when he knew it wasn’t a part of who she was, it would ruin the little game that Belle seemed to be enjoying so deeply.

As he worked out what to say to her, he could see the light leave her eyes and hear her foot tap on the marble beneath them. “Well?”

Rumple sighed. “I was dating a girl before you,” he started, but didn’t get to finish.

“Yeah. Named Belle,” Lacey shot out. “What? Did you see her or something?”

“No, I just know of a restaurant here that reminds me of her, is all…” Rumple widened his eyes, hoping she would get the idea, willing her to understand that his plan had been to bring her here all along.

Belle knew him too well. As Lacey she started to turn and look behind her, but then stopped herself and shook her head. “You know what? That’s in the past, so why don’t you and I just keep on going and you can show me the kind of good time I know you’ve got in you?” It was a half Belle, half Lacey suggestion and he clung to it.

Deciding they had both agreed to take the risk, Rumple nodded and lifted a hand to indicate the mall’s exit. “Well, since we are already here, why don’t we go out to the taxi stand next door and I’ll make sure to give you a meal you won’t forget?” He toyed with the word ‘meal’ and ran his free hand over her backside, letting the caress guide her even farther to the alternate meaning.

Lacey’s eyebrows raised. “Sounds like you _do_ have a plan.”

“I _might_ be a man who enjoys exploring his options,” Rumple confessed, feeling more like Spinner now than only moments ago. “Can’t leave a lady wanting for anything now, can I?”

They walked along through the doors and Rumple made sure to take the first escalator down to the casino level of the neighboring hotel, one he knew would lead them to a spot where he could eye the pool’s entrance. Purposefully leading them astray, he wandered past a cafe, a coffee shop, and a kiosk that offered ice cream before Lacey began her obvious display of boredom. Again she nudged him to a spot along the wall and again she moved to nibble at his neck, pressing close to make herself as much of a distraction as possible. Then, quite suddenly, her lips lifted from his skin and she turned to face him, hands on hips, head tipped to the side.

“Rumple,” she hissed quietly. “I know you need to see that he’s all right, but you _wanted_ to give Gideon this night with everyone and hovering around in hopes you’ll bump in to him _isn’t_ doing that.” Though there was frustration in her voice, it was filled with love too.

Caught, but unwilling to admit it, Rumple shook his head and forced himself into a posture more fitting to the man he named Spinner. “Haven’t a clue what you mean. Just testing our options for later, I-”

Belle’s hand flew out behind her, indicating the hallway to their left and the sign that very clearly read “pool” above it. “You’re waiting to see if he goes to that party, which is right there, in case you somehow had _no_ idea about that…” Her accusation was filled with so much penned up laughter that it made Rumple’s heart burst in all the best ways.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, Rumple pulled her toward him, backing up until they hit the wall with a thud loud enough to make bystanders turn and stare. He ignored the prying eyes and focused only on the sweet love that shone at him from Belle’s brilliantly blue gaze. “I don’t deserve you,” he whispered as he wriggled against her to settle them both into a most agreeable position.

“You do, you just won’t admit it,” Belle replied before glancing back over her shoulder at the sign and the corridor that twisted toward the loud beat of the party beginning outside. She signed and gave him a knowing smile. “We can check if you want, but-”

“No,” Rumple answered quickly before he could stop himself. “I gave him this night so that he could explore without us for a change. I need to let him do that.”

“Right.” Pushing out of his arms, Belle let her hand drop to her side with a slap of exaggerated frustration and slipped right back into Lacey’s skin in a move that was so seamless that it was almost terrifying. “So where’s this place you’re supposed to be taking me to?”

“Only one of the best views in the city,” Rumple purred as Spinner, moving from the wall to take her arm so that they could walk out together, tangled up in each other, bodies sensually close once again. 

Lacey tipped her head as if weighing her options. “Trying to take my breath away, huh?”

Rumple-now-Spinner leaned closer to whisper in her ear, making sure his lips caressed the outer shell with the faintest of touches. “Oh, that comes later, Dearie… _much_ later.”

* * *

It hadn’t taken long for the humanized Gargoyles to shed their outer layers and settle into the room wearing clothing more like what they were used to. Angela wore a two piece bikini that swirled around her in purples and pinks in a very tropical style which hugged her curves and lifted at the hips. It would have had any man in the room eying her with desire except for the fact that only Broadway could appreciate the look fully. He had settled for short, loose-fitting trunks that were casual but stylish, while Amp was basically wearing the one piece covering he wore all the time, a blue and yellow, form fitting wet suit with barely any sleeves or length in the leg to speak of.

Getting Gideon to strip down had taken some rather strong convincing and in the end it had been Angela’s reasoning that had persuaded him that strutting through the hotel in practically nothing was much more appropriate than leaving his things in a pile somewhere in the middle of a party. It wasn’t like a regular visit to the pool, after all. The place would be packed, people would probably be dancing and drinking, and did he _really_ want to be concerned with keeping his eye on his things when there would be so many other interesting sights to see? 

The final point had been his undoing and though he still felt a little insecure about it, Gideon found himself in only his swim shorts soon after, following the others through the hallways, chattering away about everything that had been missed between this visit on the strip and his last night in New York. Filling the air with laughter, the five of them caught up on everything, including the night’s actual plan.

“So as long as we don’t take these off, we’ll not only be able to sleep at night, but we’ll stay human during the day,” Lexington announced as a couple walked by and shot him a strange look. He smiled and waved, but gave no excuses for himself while he patted the stone that hung from his neck.

Gideon jumped immediately to the dangers. “They’re secure, right? They’re not going to snap or anything?” He imagined what would happen if someone pulled one of the pendants off, felt the horror of watching his friends either revert to their original forms, or worse, turn to stone at the very same time that their bodies were morphing.

“Plan on getting a little rough tonight, then?” Amp draped an arm over Gideon’s shoulders and leaned close, teasing with his body as well as his words. It sent a strange feeling through Gideon, but he tried to push it away.

“No,” Lexington huffed back. “He’s just worried that something might happen, that’s all.”

“You worry too much,” Broadway announced as they passed one of the signs that pointed to the buffet. “Hey, since we’re here, do you think…?”

“Tomorrow,” Angela told him with a nudge. “We have one whole week for you to explore all the places to eat here. This is Gideon’s night.”

Broadway’s apology barely registered on Gideon’s mind as he suddenly froze in place. “Wait a minute.” The others strode past him a few paces, but turned to stare back at him, brows furrowed. “Is _that_ why my father took us to that presidential suite?” He ran a hand through his hair and almost stumbled backwards as he worked out just how his own unhappiness and confusion had muddled things up for his friends. “Guys, I had _no_ idea. I thought Papa was just being… Well.. I mean… He _used_ to try and show off, you know? Take us to all the fanciest places?”

“Like the Rainbow Room,” Lexington reminded him.

“Yeah.” Gideon huffed out a frustrated breath and hurried to catch up with them. “I have been so stupid.”

“Well, your father kept both rooms, really,” Broadway told him, pulling a plastic key card from one of the pockets of his shorts. “Apparently your mother distracted you and your father kept the big suite _and_ got the one you’re staying in now.”

Gideon groaned and felt several hands press to his back, but couldn’t register which belonged to whom. “He tries _so_ hard and this time _I_ was the wind at the picnic.” The gargoyles blinked at each other, but didn’t say anything, giving him time to shake his head and send the thought away. “Never mind. I’ll make it up to him somehow.”

“Seems like you’re making it up to him right now, just by being with us.” Lexington nodded in the direction they were heading, where a woman in a blue sequined dress had a man with silver-brown hair pinned tightly against the wall.

“Right. Two ways to get to the pool, then,” Amp announced as he caught hold of as many arms as he could and quickly herded the group of friends around a pillar and out of sight.

* * *

The moment the elevator doors opened to reveal their final destination, Belle let out a gasp of surprise. She had expected a view, of course, but the stunning image that met her eyes made it impossible to to hold the nonchalance of her Lacey persona. The main strip of hotels gleamed in rich colors far below them and the city lights stretched off into the distance as far as the eye could see, twinkling like stars fallen to the ground and captured by the desert itself. The restaurant was packed, every table full and the combination of sight and sound almost made her head spin. Beside her she heard the now familiar, deep rumble of the chuckle that Rumple had taken on as Spinner and she turned to grin at him.

“Wow.” It was all she could say as Lacey, but she wanted to say so much more. His eyes told her he knew how she truly felt, making it easier to relax back into their evening’s little role playing game. “You have some great taste, Mister Spinner, I have to say…”

Spinner’s lips twitched up in a wicked grin. “Oh, you haven’t seen any of it yet,” he purred near her ear before guiding her along by the elbow to make their reservation. “Two for dining. Window seating,” he said pleasantly, yet firmly. “But we’ll begin upstairs in the bar. I see there is a fair wait this evening.”

Lacey shivered as Spinner simply commanded the space they stood in and everyone inside of it. He asked no questions, simply made his assumptions and expected them to be the truth. The man in front of them gave a curt nod and gestured to a set of stairs before handing over a small device. “You will be alerted when your table is ready. The 107 lounge is just above you there, sir. Enjoy.”

First nodding his thanks, then tilting his chin in the direction they were headed next, Spinner guided Lacy along with an arm snaked around her back. With no shame, he let his hand rest low, where her curves became soft flesh. There was no question that she was his tonight. Every movement and gesture claimed her by telling everyone else that _his_ hands were the only ones allowed. Any look given to them for this behavior was returned with a fiery glare that simply begged for Spinner’s resolve to be tested. Belle would have seen this as a denial of her independence, but Lacey thrived on being seen as _his_ girl. It gave her a different kind of power, one that glowed like a neon sign above them and said that one word from her and the man she was with would do whatever she asked. 

The stairs opened up on a small seating area that stretched out to both the left and the right in the same circular shape as the dining area below. In fact, the entire upper portion of the tower was built to provide the full panoramic view, rings of rooms stacked up on top of each other, staring down at the world below. The round nature of space allowed for some privacy in the main areas, and a handful of alcoves tucked closer to the bars themselves, but Spinner avoided the out of the way places, guiding her instead to a bench at the outer side of the ring, overlooking the dining area below and the city beyond.

“Your usual?” He asked the question only when she was seated.

Lacey said “sure” though Belle could feel her eyes questioning her husband, hidden under his own mask.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Spinner winked and walked off, letting his hand trail up her arm and over her shoulder, dropping it only once he was out of reach. 

Lacey shivered and sat back to enjoy the view. The vibration of music pressed through the air and as she waited she let the pulses of sound enliven her body. Images came to her mind of other types of movement that might cause the same sensations, only firmer, solid and hot, and she quickly adjusted the way she sat to try and snap herself out of her all too pleasant daydream.

Soon enough Spinner returned, a scowl on his face. “They don’t carry MacCutcheon,” he huffed in disgust. “I had to settle for the next best thing.” He placed a glass on the table in front of her, then hovered, waiting expectantly.

Bringing the whiskey to her lips, Lacey took a swallow and felt the heat of it travel through her. He was right, it wasn’t the same, but it was good enough for where they were and she nodded. “If I have enough I won’t notice anyway,” she teased. Her eyes took in the bench across from her even as she moved closer to the edge of her own seat, hoping he would take the hint. “You, uh… Plan on joining me?”

“Just waiting for an invitation.” Spinner practically poured himself into the seat beside her, pressing close. His hand wandered immediately to her leg and, once there, a single finger found where the line of fabric met flesh and followed it as far as their positions would allow. Unwilling to deny him, even in such a public place, Lacy opened her legs for him, granting him access to her inner thigh. “The tab is open,” he told her as he caressed her sensitive skin. “Don’t be afraid to ask for more.”

She had to swallow hard when Spinner sat back, pulling his hand and body away from her, leaving her feeling suddenly chilled and in need. He took a small sip of his own drink before setting the glass down on the table and pulling the pager from his pocket and dropping it down as well. Lacey hummed and leaned forward to snatch it up, then turned it in her fingers as if she were thoroughly examining it. “You know what these are good for?” 

Her eyes flicked over to Spinner and caught him lounging back on the bench, arms draped over the cushioned back, eyebrows raised. It was clear that he expected her to continue, but two could play this little game of domination and Lacey most definitely wanted to win, so she let her fingers play suggestively along the plastic while her eyes bored into the deep brown of his heated stare. Finally he relented. “You going to tell me or show me?”

“Oh, I can’t show you,” she told him as she leaned back, body half against his chest and half supported by their seat. “Not until they call us down.”

Spinner chuckled. “Is that so? Something magical about it, then?”

“You’ll see,” Lacey promised as she pinched the center of the pager between her thumb and finger and rolled it up his leg like a wheel, starting at the knee and ending at the base of his pocket. “Gotta keep it close though.” When she turned her head to give him a sideways glance, she caught sight of his tongue darting out to moisten his lips and moved in closer still. “You never know when it might go off…”

Fire burst through her when their lips met, the taste of the whiskey still on his tongue adding to the heat she felt creep through her entire body. Positioned as they were the kiss began over Lacey’s shoulder and pulled her body in odd ways, but the unusual angle brought so much life to it that she simply didn’t care. A backward battle of lips and tongues began immediately, Spinner leaning forward to almost kiss her from behind. His tongue explored her mouth and she moaned into him, begging him to continue with little explorations of her own. It was sensual and wonderful and made her wish their room was downstairs instead of a multitude of buildings away.

Lacey thought she heard someone ask about seating or needing something, but she simply didn’t care. Her body was alive with sensation, preventing the mind from processing any language not her own. Breaking away for air, she caught sight of another couple staring down at them as they passed, but the freedom she felt in this place prevented her from giving their discomfort more than a flicker of thought. “Too bad these tables are so low,” she whispered in Spinner’s ear, nipping on the lobe as she ended her sentence.

He chuckled at her and caught her hand in his own, prying the pager free to let it drop at his hip. Guiding her touch over his own leg, he allowed her to know just _what_ she was doing to him before rasping back. “The dinner tables have cloths.”

“Mister Spinner!” Lacey laughed and somewhere Belle felt a rush of her own shock before she slipped back into the more easy going persona. Several heads turned and she leaned closer, making certain to give everyone a good show. “Are you suggesting something be… handled… over dinner?” 

“I’m suggesting…” He sneered at her, the words coming out in a delightful hiss that sent a shiver down her spine. “…That I expect our night together to be very, _very_ long. You see, that’s part of the magic I promised you earlier…” Again his tongue licked at his lips, but instead of retreating, it remained barely extended as he bent to taste her neck. The moisture of it trailed briefly along where her pulse throbbed, teased at her lobe, then pulled away again to allow him to speak. “Eternal pleasure.”

Lacey practically burst then and there, but managed to gather herself by shutting her eyes tight and pulling in a long, sharp breath. “Don’t know if I can handle that,” she admitted in what was barely a whisper. “But I’m willing to try.”

“Oh, you can handle it.” Spinner’s confidence oozed from him as he leaned forward for his glass. He tipped it at her, eyebrows raised before taking another, delicate swallow. “You’re magical yourself.”

A flush crept over Lacey and hurried into the very core of Belle, who took a moment for herself just to stare into the eyes of her wonderful, adventurous, kind, loving, and _gorgeous_ husband. This man, in any of his forms, meant the world to her, as did this second chapter of their lives. The story was evolving into something new, perhaps, but they had changed as well, and she knew that whatever came of their time alone in the future would be made of the same magic that had brought them together.

“Do you believe in true love, Mister Spinner?” Belle asked in Lacey’s sexual tones.

Spinner’s eyes darkened even as his gaze grew soft, Rumple’s tenderness mixing with the new personality’s wild desires. “You know, Lacey,” he whispered as he pulled her close. “I believe I do.”


	4. Chapter 4

Music pulsed against Gideon as he stepped out of the busy hotel and made his way to the Temptation party. Tucked around the sharp angles of the building, the pool was somewhat hidden from immediate view and the walk from the door to the spot where everyone was gathered almost drove him to madness. He wanted to see everything at once and yet he was being forced to peer between palm trees and tiny shacks filled with towel boys, unable to see the picture as a whole until he could round the bend and catch sight of the complete chaos ahead of him.

Instantly taking to the atmosphere, Amp and Lex began to move to the beat that drew them all forward, their bodies sliding beside each other in such a sensual way that Gideon had to look elsewhere. Suddenly his mind refused to focus on anything other than his questions of gargoyle sexuality. He wanted to know if they flew while in their most intimate of embraces or if they found their pleasure in a way more like humans. Obviously they still found each other attractive in the forms they were in now, but would they act on that attraction later this evening? His mind and body ached as a multitude of scenarios flashed before him and he almost sickened at the thought of mentally imposing on their togetherness. 

_Admire their beauty, respect their pairing,_ he told himself as he paid the group’s admission fee. He was going away to school and most likely wouldn’t see his friends for several years. Their friendship needed to be cherished this week, not contorted into an act of desperation.

When an arm draped over his shoulder, Gideon turned to see Broadway at his side with Angela beyond him, leaning close against his round, but solid body. “We’ll find you someone,” Broadway boasted easily. “Look, the place is full of people.”

Gideon turned his eyes to the pool, now in full view, taking in the sheer number of bodies ahead of them. The massive rectangular courtyard was paved in a smooth, sand colored concrete, that housed four large bodies of water in a collection of shapes. The one in front of them was decorated by a row of pillars topped with ram heads that spat water down on the revelers below. People pressed close near the cascades, leaving little room for anyone to join them. Some stood shoulder to shoulder, some kept tiny gaps between each other, but every man in the water was a tantalizing display of skin. There were men of all types in attendance, along with a handful of women, but almost everyone at the party was hard muscled and tan, with form fitting swim shorts made of even less fabric than Gideon’s own, leaving little to the imagination.

The sheer amount of exposed skin sent a shiver thorough his body that made his manhood tingle with appreciation even before he could take in the freedom to simply _have_ and _desire_. Men draped easily over each other, some clearly at play, others in acts of pure seduction. Couples walked from one pool to the next and singles beckoned, from a distance, to whomever caught their eye. In a desperate attempt to calm himself, Gideon struggled with the mental image of what the academy could hold for him, what his studies might be, and ran through his plans for the future as the group ventured further in. 

Beyond the pool of rams, two more stretched out in odd shapes meant to mirror each other even if their forms were nothing alike. The one closest to the hotel was large and rounded, with small central islands where men sat or lay basking in hot desert air. The other, furthest from the building, had a sharper design. All corners and angles, it snaked around a small, step pyramid with waterfalls that cascaded down its sides and into both pools below. The water shifted and turned under the parking deck’s walkway and sent party goers to yet another swimming area which was more traditional in style. 

Every beach lounger was full, and each of the private cabanas claimed, so as if by some telepathic connection, the group steered itself toward the middle of the space, where the large, round body of water and small islands left some openings for newcomers. Lex slid in first, sank down into the shallow pool and sputtered to the surface, scrubbing his face. “It’s great!” 

The shout was followed by Broadway’s rush to the concrete edge, but Angela caught him before he could jump. She indicated the lifeguards and then pointed down to Lexington, who stood easily with the water creeping to his chest. “It’s shallow,” she reminded him. He grunted, but stalled just short of leaping in.

Amp turned a raised eyebrow Gideon’s way and tipped his head in the direction of the cool blue liquid. “Best get in before you give the impression you’re ready to get it on?” The stag-turned-human grinned before slipping gracefully into the water that lapped at his stomach. His body quivered as he settled, trembling the way animals do when they cast water from their fur.

Rolling his eyes, Gideon sank down after him and was consumed instantly by the refreshing chill which most certainly helped to conceal his desires. 

Left behind by Angela’s protests of caution, Broadway moved to stand at her back and wrapped his arms gently around her. “Ladies first,” he rumbled as he lifted her from the concrete and dangled her down to the pool below. Once she was in he followed, not quite jumping from where he stood, but still moving with enough eagerness that his larger body gave off a small wave as he displaced the water around him.

“Not many like you two, I’m afraid,” Amp told Angela as they scanned the crowd. It was true that most of the attendees were men, but here and there several women were chatting with friends, draped over girlfriends, or occasionally paired with a man of their own. Couples made of males and females were certainly visible, though they stood out here as easily as same-gendered couples would have elsewhere.

“I have the only one I need,” Angela told him as she placed her hands on Broadway’s chest. “I don’t mind and it still looks like fun.”

Lexington pointed up at a platform set up nearby. “There’s a stage,” he told everyone. “We should go check it out.”

They spent the next few minutes taking in the landscape, learning the schedule of events, and using the fake identification that Elisa had given them to get drinks. Now and again someone would break away from their small cluster, then return, but for the most part the five friends remained as a tight group moving among the others, bodies bouncing and swaying whenever the music caught hold of them. Now and then a splashing war broke out and occasionally Gideon caught sight of someone ducking below the water’s surface, but the shallow nature of the pool and the crowd that filled it prevented most free movement. He honestly wasn’t bothered, because proximity meant pressing close to others as he passed and feeling others make contact with him as well. It wasn’t long before the touch of skin against his own, or the feel of a bulge against his body became such a common occurrence that he barely gave the contact any thought. 

Surrounded by his friends and so many others that were celebrating who they were and the lives they loved, Gideon felt every worry melt away. Though he never felt like an outsider because of his sexual desires, this was his first grand celebration designed specifically for that purpose. He wanted to drift from person to person and lose any and all trace of himself in the crowd, but just as he was mustering up the courage to wander on his own, the music stopped and an announcer strutted up on the stage, microphone in hand. 

“So who’s having a great time so far?!” Cheers erupted from the crowd gathering as the host, wearing tight shorts and nothing else, played to the gathering. “We’ve got a great party for you all tonight! Starting with the boys getting ready to parade behind me! That’s right, it’s time for our fashion show. Give it up for these men who are guaranteed to heat you up then cool you down!”

All eyes turned as, one by one, men covered in very little walked forward, flexing muscles and brandishing plastic water blasters that they used to spray at the crowd. Gideon quickly learned that the louder one called out in appreciation, the more likely they were to get squirted and that with enough sensual desire in the call, spectators would see the water pistol being used to mimic the model’s natural anatomy. He quickly picked up the routine, earning several squirts to his chest, one of which came from an appropriately low angle and was sent with a deeply meaningful stare.

“You’ve got an admirer,” Amp called out at him once the spray had ceased.

Gideon shook his head and gestured at the stage. “It’s just what they’re meant to do.”

Lexington laughed. “He doesn’t mean up there.” The smaller of his friends fixed an intent gaze toward the pool’s edge, where a man with short, highlighted hair watched the trio behind a pair of sunglasses that reflected the blue of the water and everyone in it. 

“He could be looking at anyone,” Gideon huffed back, unconvinced.

“Nope,” Lex corrected. “He’s been watching _you_ since the fashion show started. I don’t think he looked up _there_ once.”

Self image wasn’t really a problem that Gideon had ever faced. He knew that others found him attractive and kept active partly so that he would be able to present the best form to others, but the idea that a random stranger should be eying him with expectations shook him deeply. It suddenly wasn’t a scenario that he could accept and he turned his back on the man to scowl at his friends. “Come on. Do you have any idea how many people are here? There’s no way-”

A cheer rose up in the crowd as the show drew to a close, drowning out the rest of Gideon’s complaint and when he turned back to see what the fuss was he noticed that the bespectacled man had simply vanished. “There, you see?” His hand thrashed out, then landed at his side, splashing in the water and sending a spray of droplets on the others. “Not looking.”

“Oh, he was looking, all right,” Amp insisted. “I’d stake the lives of my rookery siblings on it.”

Gideon shot him an angry stare. “Betting on your own family over a complete stranger isn’t your style, Amp.”

“Not unless I mean it.” He winked, then bent over to brush against Lexington. “I’m off for another drink. Care for more?”

Both Lexington and Gideon agreed before moving to a newly available bench that was set in one of the small concrete islands. Built right into the square, the underwater slab was edged in a row of deep blue tiles. Lexington sputtered a little as they sat until he worked out an arrangement of his body that prevented water from sloshing onto his face and the two laughed before settling into a mutual admiration of the music.

“I’m glad you came, Lex,” Gideon said at last. “I was beginning to go mad thinking I wouldn’t see you again before I went off to the academy.”

“No technology there, then? I mean, where you’re going?” Lexington turned to him a little sadly. 

Gideon shook his head. “Not really even indoor plumbing. There’s a shower system worked out with a waterfall which… I don’t even know how to describe it…”

“Cold,” Lexington offered sharply, shuddering at the thought. His certainty made Gideon laugh again.

“Yeah, probably.” His eyes wandered over the crowd until they found Amp, tall and muscular in his body suit, still standing in the line for their drinks. “Are you… I mean… Would you ever go…”

As if reading his mind, Lexington shook his head. “We haven’t really talked about it. I love New York and Amp loves England. If we ever decide on anything, I’ll probably join his clan since it’s closer to where I really came from.”

“Sure.” Gideon tried not to sigh, but knew that he’d failed when a hand gripped his arm.

“I know it’s been hard, the two of us being together and you and I… I mean, we were always friends.”

Pain and adoration and almost every other emotion washed over Gideon in that moment. He gently dropped his head back onto the cement island and let out a long sigh. “We’ve been through all that, Lex. Just because I find you attractive, doesn’t mean I feel abandoned or lost over not being able to have you. I’m _happy_ that you’re happy, most especially because it isn’t with me.”

Lexington blinked at him in surprise. “Oh?” He turned from sitting to kneeling on the blue tiles so that he could better face Gideon and screwed up his face in confusion. “How does that work?”

“I don’t know,” Gideon admitted. “I just… I see the two of you together and I see my parents. I feel the true love in what you have with Amp and I know that if it had been _us_ you probably wouldn’t have had that. Gargoyles have one mate and I wouldn’t have been what you wanted or needed and things would have been so-”

“You have _got_ to stop selling yourself short all the time,” Lexington snapped, the force of his words made Gideon’s head tip upright again and startled him into an open mouthed expression of concern. The human gargoyle immediately raised his hands in a gesture of placation. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap like that, I just… If you’d been older when we met and… Well, if Amp and I hadn’t already known each other… It _could_ have been you. And maybe that’s why I’m so protective of you, but-”

The rest of Lexington’s words were lost in a sudden splash and the grunt of air being pressed from lungs as one of the party goers slammed into him from behind. Reacting quickly, Gideon’s arms shot forward to catch his smaller friend and pull him away from the chaos created by the semi-drunken reveler. “Watch out!” He called in something that was a cross between genuine concern and anger, eyes narrowed at the man who apologized quickly and moved away, leaving a dripping Lexington settled firmly in Gideon’s lap.

Staring at each other, the men became frozen in time, bodies close, the heaving of their chests the only movement between them. Unsure of what to do, Gideon quickly looked away, trying to make it appear as if he were checking for dangers before releasing his friend back into the unknown. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Me too,” Lexington whispered. He returned to his place at Gideon’s side and was silent for another moment before looking back. “You know, Gargoyles are changing in the modern world, maybe Amp and I could-”

“No,” Gideon told him flatly. “I won’t ruin what you have. True love, remember?”

“Aren’t there humans who find that with more than one person?” Lexington’s question might as well have stabbed Gideon in the heart. He knew it was true but he didn’t want that to be who he was. His parents only ever needed each other, their love was as pure as anything in any text anywhere in any realm. There was nothing more perfect, more wonderful than what they had. It allowed them their honesty, their individual strengths, their joined pleasures, and created one being out of the two of them. If he was going to find love, he was going to find _that_ love and no other.

“Sure,” Gideon sighed. He thought about his life with Lexington and the times he had spoken with Amp through video calls, thought of what they both looked like now and who they had been before being transformed. If he was being asked to pick one of them over the other, he knew he couldn’t make that choice and what was worse, he worried he didn’t want to. Taking in a deep breath, he forced a confession out of himself that he hoped was not a lie. “But I’m not like that.”

“Wouldn’t hurt if you were,” Lexington told him, trying to be supportive.

Gideon shut his eyes against his fears. “It’s not who I _want_ to be.”Out 

“So who _do_ you want to be, then?” The voice was Amp’s and Lexington moved from where he sat to give his mate the place beside Gideon. Once the larger man had passed the drinks around and settled, Lexington easily slipped into his lap and leaned back.

“His parents,” Lex said once he was settled.

“Well, that _would_ be nice,” Amp admitted, “but it’s best to be yourself.”

“Always,” Angela agreed, startling the group as her voice hit them from behind.

“Where have you two been?” Lexington opened his eyes wide and tipped his head backwards against Amp’s shoulder to stare at the woman who had settled herself on the cement island like a mermaid on a rock.

She laughed at the oddity of his situation. “Around,” she said. “I think we’ll have to go, though. Broadway keeps talking about the buffet.”

“I knew he wouldn’t last an hour once he saw it,” Lexington told her and the others chuckled in agreement.

“We’ve got one of the keys to the big suite. We’ll meet you there once we’re done.” For a minute Angela’s body tensed as if she were preparing to launch herself skyward, muscles bunching into tight chords, ready to release, but a moment later she relaxed and shook her head. “Have to get used to that.”

“You’ve got a few days, I hope.” Gideon tried not to let desperation show in his voice, but he knew he’d done a lousy job of containing it.

“We’re here for as long as you are,” Broadway told him as he sloshed up to them all, then looked up at Angela and shook his head. “We can’t go yet. I just heard they’re going to have a competition and I want to see these three in it.” One finger poked at the air in front of Gideon, then moved to stab at Amp and Lexington in turn.

Amp sat up straighter, grinning wildly. “I’m always up for a little fun. What is it?”

As if answering his question, the party’s host took to the stage and ordered one of the smaller pools cleared of bodies. “We’re starting our boy riding in five minutes, so find your partners and make your way over to the empty pool for some hot competition!”

Lexington almost choked on his drink. “Boy riding? Does that mean-”

A passing stranger smiled Lexington’s way. “You get up on your boyfriend’s shoulders and he’s got to run you from one end to the other a few times. It’s super fun. Plus, you know… All that _tight_ muscle under you and your everything else pressing at his neck… Girl, you’ve gotta come do this thing.” His body shivered with delight before he took the hand of a man standing next to him and guided him away.

Gideon laughed when they were gone and waved a hand in the direction of the gathering crowd. “You two should definitely try it,” he told Amp and Lexington before turning to Broadway. “How about you and Angela?”

“Could be fun,” Broadway said, peering into the sea of bodies. “If they’ll let us.”

“Well if they don’t let us, we’ll just have to make them, come on.” Angela caught his hand and hurried him over to the area where the race was to be held, then waved her hand frantically at the others. “Come on!”

“You go,” Gideon told his friends. “I’m afraid I’m minus one.”

“Oh, but you aren’t,” Amp said with glee. “I found someone who’s been _dying_ to meet you.”

* * *

Spinner and Lacey spent two hours at their seats in the bar that overlooked Las Vegas, sipping their drinks, snacking on small plates of food, and flirting as if they had never known each other before. Belle and Rumple had never had a traditional relationship, but that knowledge hadn’t bothered Rumple until he could sit back as Spinner and see just what he had missed. At his side was a beautiful woman who was somewhat familiar and yet a complete stranger, someone who reveled in surprising him with tidbits about her desires, and who listened with absolute rapture to his every word.

Throughout the evening their game mutated beyond the simple role play that began the night and evolved into a competition, a discovery of these personalities that followed some very simple, yet unspoken rules. General questions could go anywhere either of them wanted as long as they were answered, but discovery of their partner’s physical appetites was a strictly hands on experience. The two pushed the limits of decency without ever truly crossing the line and were so lost in the company they were keeping that even if complaints had been made, neither one of them would have noticed. Lacey was Spinner’s entire world and he was her universe.

“So you’re a sort of dark hero then.” Lacey rested her head on his shoulder as her fingers slipped under the cloth that covered his back and trailed lazy caresses up his spine. She’d pulled the fabric free of his pants ages ago and seemed to enjoy making feathery touches with the pads of her fingers or tenderly raking her nails over his soft flesh while staring down at the ever growing bulge in his already tightly fitted jeans. The pager rested beside the object of her desire, tilted at an angle, but managing to give passers by some appearance of decency. No one would think she was staring at his crotch, because she was most certainly waiting for the lights to flash.

Spinner shrugged and sipped at his drink while tracing lines over her arm with the hand that held her close. “I do have a bit of a dark side, I suppose,” he admitted.

“Oh, the good cop _and_ the bad cop, all rolled into one?” Her head tipped up at him, eyes burning with desire. “I’d love to know what you’d do with a girl like me.”

“Are you telling me you’re trouble?” Spinner’s eyebrows raised playfully and Lacey shrugged against him.

“I might be,” she said. “If trouble was something you wanted.”

The idea of simply taking her flew to Spinner’s mind and the part of him that was still Rumple tried to fight it, even though he knew that was exactly what Belle wanted. He imagined having Lacey in every possible way, in every situation she had spoken of so far and many beyond, then found himself licking his lips in anticipation. It hadn’t been long ago that he’d run a hand up her leg as he leaned forward to take his glass from the table and used the angle of his body as cover for the brief journey of his fingers under her impossibly short dress. Able to feel the moisture of the soft fabric between her legs, he knew she would be ready for him. The briefest of flashes came to his mind to abandon their seat, slip into the bathroom, and give her body the release it needed, but just as he was about to stand, the pager vibrated hard against his cock, sending his head spinning and forcing a cry out of him that turned the heads of everyone nearby.

“That’s us!” Lacey beamed and practically jumped to her feet, catching the pager and lifting it away before it could cause Spinner more trouble.

He shot a burning gaze up at her. “You’re a naughty girl, Lacey,” he snarled, pulling her in such a way that she ‘accidentally’ fell into his lap. “Maybe you should have let me out first.”

“That comes later,” Lacey whispered, leaning against him to nip at his ear, her heat radiating through his jeans. “I still have a few hours of torture left in me.”

“As do I,” Spinner rasped before letting her go and gesturing at the table they were abandoning. “This was just the appetizer.”

* * *

The man with highlights was back, sunglasses in hand, hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. “Hey,” he said simply to Gideon before his expression became one of sweet concern. “I hope you don’t mind. Your friends told me I should come over.” 

Gideon spun to shoot a look at Amp and Lexington, but the couple were suddenly half a pool away and showed no signs of turning around. “They’re trouble,” he chuckled at the retreating forms. “I’m sorry if they bothered you.”

“No, not at all. I, um…. I wanted to come over earlier, but it looked like the three of you were maybe here together, so I didn’t want to break any vibe or anything, you know?” Gideon watched as a shrug moved the muscles in the man’s body and willed himself to stay calm.

“We’re just friends,” Gideon assured him. “Lex and Amp are a thing, but I’m just a guy they know.”

Over the speakers another call came for racers, but the stranger settled himself on the tiled bench beside Gideon instead of following the exodus to the spectacle. “I don’t think you’re ‘just’ anything,” he said softly. “I actually think you’re the hottest guy here.”

“Nah.” Quick to answer, the word was out of Gideon’s mouth before he could stop it. “I’m just one in the crowd, really.”

The heat of flesh pressed against Gideon’s arm as the man beside him gave a gentle nudge with his shoulder. “So you got a name or do I get to call you ‘cutie’ all night long?”

“Gideon.” His name flew from his lips with too much eagerness and all Gideon wanted to do was run from the clumsy idiocy that had taken control of him. In a desperate attempt to hide his emotions, he flashed a smile over at his new companion. “What about you? Your choice. ‘Sweetheart’ or…”

The man beside him actually blushed. His eyes widened a little as surprise crossed his face, then he schooled his expression into a tender smile. “Chad,” he answered easily. “Though I could go with sweetheart if you’d prefer.”

Pushing away from the bench so that he could face Chad, Gideon smirked. “Maybe a bit early for that. I like Chad, actually. It’s Old English. There are quite a few scholars who believe it might have come from the Welsh word ‘cad,’ which means battle.”

“So I… fight myself?” Chad chuckled.

Gideon took his turn to flush. “No, no, I mean… Sorry, I guess I’m a little too knowledgeable about some things…”

A hand came up and settled on Gideon’s chest, causing him to hold his breath so that he didn’t begin panting like an excited puppy. 

“No, don’t apologize. I love smart guys. I think it’s sexy.” Chad paused for a minute, then removed his palm, settling it back into the water. “I like knowing what it means. Battle, huh?”

“The intention was probably to imply strength or name someone as a warrior.” Gideon rambled on, digging his hole of knowledge deeper and deeper. Even if Chad claimed to like it, Gideon was certain he was taking things to the extreme, but he just couldn’t stop himself.

“Well, if I’m a warrior, I say we get off this seat and go take on the others in battle. You up for that?” The spark in Chad’s eyes was contagious and Gideon found himself unable to resist. He nodded and took the hand offered to him, allowing himself to be guided along to where the competition had already begun.

Split into several groups, couples stood around the improvised race course, cheering on the competitors of their choice. In the water, Amp pressed forward past a handful of others, Lexington settled securely on his shoulders. The physique of the gargoyles stood out among the humans, making them seem like body builders or professional athletes and leading the pair to a clear victory. In one of the clusters of couples, Broadway and Angela cheered, Broadway reaching out to grasp Amp’s wrist and haul him easily up to the pool’s ledge.

“Well done!” Angela shouted as she reached up to grasp Lexington by the wrist in a gesture of support that was far from human.

Amp grinned. “Only one of four. I believe that makes it your turn.”

The next group was called to the water and Broadway dropped down, then moved to the edge, where Angela easily lifted one leg at a time to sit on his shoulders. Gideon thought that the gargoyles had quite the advantage in a race of this sort, since their bodies were used to balancing in ways that humans would never know. There wasn’t a prize for the winners and since the game was all for fun, pointing out the differences as cheating seemed unsportsmanlike just now.

The second race was off as soon as the couples were settled and though he slipped once, while trying to avoid a collision with his competition, Broadway ended the final lap with ease, leaving only one other competitor just a stride behind and to his right. Gideon celebrated with the crowd before turning to Chad to make a one sided introduction.

“That’s Broadway, Angela… And you’ve met Amp and Lex.” He tipped his chin at each. “Broadway and Lex are brothers.”

“And Amp’s from London.” At first it seemed like Chad was only stating the obvious, but there was a glint in the man’s eye that suggested he knew more than he was letting on. “Or from outside of the area, anyway. He told me a little about it. Protecting the royal countryside. Sounds exciting.”

Gideon didn’t really know how to answer that, since whatever story Amp told couldn’t have been the full truth and he didn’t want to dig himself into yet another pit that he couldn’t crawl out of. He decided to stick with the simplest forms of what he knew. “Everyone else is from New York. They all sort of do the same work. Lex works with the police. Broadway and Angela too, but Lex does more technology and stuff.”

“Seems like they have an advantage,” Chad told him with a wink. “All that physical training looks like it pays off.”

The next group of racers was called and Gideon found himself being herded to the pool’s edge. “I’m afraid you won’t get that sort of strength with me,” he called out to Chad as they moved with the others.

“You a top or bottom?” Chad’s shouted question made Gideon swallow hard. The double meaning forcing the words in his head to scramble around themselves in a prime example of utter uselessness. Gideon’s silence made Chad chuckle and he nodded at the water. “You’re a little taller. You get in. I’ll ride you.”

Rushing to sink his lower body into the chill of the water, Gideon took in a sharp breath at the contrast with the warm air. The change quickly adjusted the physical signs of desire that he knew were beginning to show. A moment later there was light pressure on his shoulder and Chad’s voice in his ear, asking if he was ready. Nodding, Gideon bent low, allowing his new partner to straddle his neck, then caught the man’s legs tightly to his own chest as he slowly stood and settled his footing.

“You good?” Gideon called up at the wobbling Chad, who answered back in the affirmative, but had barely the time to find his grip before the call to race was given.

Gideon let the others press ahead of him, following in their wake. He felt the tension of the muscles in Chad’s legs as they moved and the press of his groin at his neck, but tried to ignore it all over the rush and swirl of water around him. To win he needed to think and act like a gargoyle, needed to feel the currents and use them just as the others did when they flew. One by one the competition slowed, stumbled, or splashed to the side, leaving only two others for Gideon to pass. Now, with less motion in the water, he surged forward, rushing ahead with the perfect balance to reach the pool’s edge first.

Cheers erupted as his friends reached down to try and help Chad off of Gideon, but the announcer stopped them. “One more race to go, boys and girls! This one’s the championship!” He herded the previous winners back to the pool and Gideon took a deep breath under Chad’s weight.

“You all right, cutie?” Chad’s hand ran through Gideon’s hair and he hummed in appreciation.

“I won’t be if you keep that up,” he answered.

Amp took the place to Gideon’s right and Broadway lowered himself into place on his left. One other couple stood beyond Broadway, but a look between the Gargoyles told Gideon that this race was going to be all about them. When the call to race was given, each man struggled forward with all of their might. There wasn’t time to negotiate currents and flailing bodies. This was a test of pure strength between them and Gideon wasn’t going to let the others win. His muscles strained as he cut through the water, reached out to touch the island that was the race’s mid point, then turned to head back. A glance to either side told him it was a dead heat between the three friends and he kept up his steady pace until the last few strides, when he abandoned all caution.

“Hold on!” He shouted up at Chad before bunching his muscles and lunging forward. The strong legs around him became hard and firm as his partner prepared for the rush to the finish. Inch by inch they gained ground over the others until Gideon’s hand shot out to slap the pool’s edge in triumph.

The victory celebration at the side of the pool quickly became a blur as Chad was lifted from Gideon’s shoulders and everyone gathered around. Since Chad was the largest of any of the riders, a crowd of people came to Gideon’s side to offer compliments, most of which included a hands-on component. Men caressed, squeezed, and rubbed Gideon’s muscles, felt his back or ran hands casually over his chest in a ritual of appreciation that made Gideon flush and put a huge grin on Chad’s face.

Once the excitement was over, Chad moved close. “Told you you’re cute.” He winked and took Gideon’s hand in his own, fingers twining with the hint of a squeeze. “Let’s go find a place to get to know each other.”

Feeling as if he were flying above the world, Gideon let Chad pull him back into the center of the party, where they could get lost in the music, and, he hoped, each other.


	5. Chapter 5

In the harsh light of the restaurant’s bathroom, Belle stared into the eyes of the much bolder Lacey who looked back at her and took a long, calming breath. The woman she faced was reckless yet confident, completely unafraid to push limits in a way that announced to the world that she didn’t conform and didn’t at all care to. Laughing, playing, and forgetting herself in the last three hours with Spinner made her see that _this_ was the part of her that was drawn to the scaled Dark One of the Enchanted Forest. The bold, challenging Lacey had been somewhere inside of her from the beginning, hidden way behind the proper expectations of society.

“If only I’d figured that out sooner,” she muttered to herself as she jabbed a finger into her tiny clutch to try and force the new contents inside. “It would have saved us so much heartbreak.”

The sound of a flushed toilet made her heart skip in her chest and her eyes darted back to the reflection, to Lacey, whose wild hair and heavy makeup reminded her of the plans she’d made for the rest of the evening more than the item she’d just stuffed in her purse. Could she go through with it all? She had always thought of bravery as something meant for adventurers and heroes, categories Lacey couldn’t even fathom belonging to, but wasn’t Lacey’s attitude on life an adventure in itself? Wasn’t it brave to shrug off the expectations of others and live the life _you_ most wanted?

Beside her, an elderly woman’s voice trembled happily. “I don’t know what you’re debating, honey, but this is _Las_ Vegas. If you can’t do it here, you can’t do it _anywhere_.”

Belle glanced over with a faint smile when the stranger nudged her gently with a knobby elbow. She had dark skin, gray hair, and more wrinkles than Belle had seen on anyone, but she was so full of life that she might as well have been a teenager in disguise. Remembering what she had been doing, Belle quickly snapped the clutch shut and tried not to act as if she’d been caught doing anything unsavory.

The woman turned from drying her hands and flashed another bright smile. “You’ve only got one life, honey. _Live_ it,” she insisted with a wink, then left with careful steps and a cheerful laugh that greeted whoever awaited her just outside the door.

Belle watched the woman go and thought about her own future with Rumple, their hope to grow old together, live their lives to the fullest. She imagined him at the table, awaiting her return and shot a brief glance at the clutch in her hand. They wouldn’t have many more chances like this one and she wasn’t about to let it go to waste. When she looked up again, blue eyes turned back to stare at her with a surprising intensity. They held passion, determination, and an almost primal desire in their depths and she realized just what Rumple must see when he caught her thinking of him. It was beautiful and needful and simply radiated their mutual passions so that even though he wasn’t standing there, it felt that he had been all along.

Pushing aside the anxieties that came along with her plan, she straightened her back, tipped her head to the side and gave Lacey a wink that was immediately returned with the confidence of a woman who held no fear for her future. Whatever risks she took to get there, she would enjoy every second of the journey and make certain that the man she loved would to do the same.

* * *

“So, I had a _really_ great time tonight.” Chad’s toes ran lazily along the side of Gideon’s foot as he spoke, testing the limits of contact. 

The two men sat at the edge of the pool, legs dangling into the water. Around them, the party was slowly winding down, but Gideon barely noticed the thinning crowd. Still, he knew that if they didn’t leave soon they would end up being escorted away, but moving meant breaking the moment and the moment was too perfect a thing to let go of.

With only a week left in this realm before his departure, Gideon hadn’t been looking to begin a new relationship, friendly or otherwise. His attraction to others wasn’t quite something that he had worked out yet, though he’d had numerous discussions with his parents about it as he had grown older. It was true that he found men attractive and that his body responded to the idea of sexual interaction, but his mind seemed to shut down when the thought of actual sex came to it. Cuddling, caressing, kissing were all perfectly okay, but anything beyond simply seemed unimportant. His father insisted that once he got his mind off of his studies that would change, and his mother insisted that once he stopped being so concerned for everyone else’s emotions he would find his own, but at times like this Gideon just wasn’t sure.

Chad was a great looking guy with sandy blond hair that was layered in a natural gradient from mid browns on the underside to striking pale color on the uppermost layer. It spoke of someone who spent time in the sun, though the man’s skin suggested he wasn’t the type fixated on tanning or sunbathing by the pool. There was a hint of light brown to his lightly muscled body, but nothing that stood out as false or extreme. The man’s chest was smooth, but a thin trail of hair left his naval to travel down below where Gideon could see. Everything sang to him of physical attraction and begged him not to let Chad from his sight, but the idea of “taking him home” was one he simply wanted to push away.

The two were no longer strangers, having shared stories and laughter well into the night. Chad seemed to be as warm and kind as Gideon could ever have hoped for in a person and was always careful when testing Gideon’s boundaries, using little touches that could be easily avoided. Gideon never pulled away, though. In fact, he found himself craving the contact and now he watched with strange fascination as their feet brushed together below the water’s surface, their forms contorting with the ripples above. “Yeah,” he whispered through the daze. “I had a good time too.” It was Chad’s sigh that snapped him into reality, making his eyes take in their surroundings and cling desperately to other options. He spoke quickly before he could talk himself into changing his mind. “You staying somewhere nearby, or…?”

A smile met him in answer. “I’m local. Or at least as local as someone can be to the strip, I guess. It’s about a half hour from here to my place in Henderson.” There was an unspoken invitation in that reveal, a slight uptilt of Chad’s voice that begged for acknowledgment. He sounded for all the world like someone who wanted not to go home alone, but Gideon ignored the unspoken wish.

“I’m next door.” He waved a hand at the golden towers that loomed over them in the distance and pondered his options. Neither of them seemed to want to part from the other, but Gideon wasn’t at all ready to jump into a stranger’s car and drive away with him. On the other hand, taking said stranger up to his room held a whole other set of implications that he wasn’t yet ready to think about. 

The silence that followed lingered between them, threatening to press them apart. Chad’s lips straightened into a line as his hands pressed to the pool’s concrete edge, ready to hoist him away. “Well,” he sighed. “I guess I’d better get back.”

Chad’s departure was something that Gideon was not at all prepared for, not given any circumstances, but the twinge of sadness in the other man’s voice cut right through to Gideon’s heart. He watched Chad stand and felt himself dissolve with each drip of water onto the dry ground beside him. Eagerly his thoughts raced between the past and the future, searching for options. If his father did keep both of the hotel rooms, he and Chad could have the small suite all to themselves. That didn’t really help with privacy, though, since everyone seemed to have keys to both. 

“It’s late,” Gideon yelped, scrambling to his feet in such a rush that he nearly toppled himself into the water again. “Stay with us. We’ve got plenty of room.”

“You and your friends?” Chad’s eyebrows raised. “Would they mind?”

“And my parents.” The second he said it, Gideon wished he could take the words back. Chad’s face paled, his eyes widened, and his mouth began to drop into a slack O shape in protest, but Gideon snatched his hand and held it tightly in his own, willing him not to vanish into the night. “I mean…. We have a suite. I’ve got my own bedroom. We wouldn’t be with everyone else all the time or anything and we can just talk… or whatever. It’s just so late and I’d feel bad letting you drive home tired or something.” 

_Oh, shut up, shut up!_ Gideon shouted into his own mind. Why was he rambling like this? And why was it sounding like he wanted this man to share his bed? He would end up giving Chad all the wrong ideas just by trying to keep his company.

Chad glanced down at where their hands were joined and Gideon’s eyes followed, staring at their entwined fingers. He realized he should probably let go, but when he tried, Chad stopped him, then made lazy circles on Gideon’s skin with the pad of his thumb. “I um… I didn’t _really_ want this night to end, so… If you think no one else would mind, I guess I’ll take you up on that…”

“I doubt anyone is even going to notice we’re there.” Gideon let out a huff of relief that he hoped also concealed his overeager reactions. He didn’t want to seem as desperate as he was, especially not in the way this conversation was implying. “My parents are out on a date, Angela’s probably eating with Broadway in whatever buffet would take him, and Lex and Amp…” Gideon scanned the remnants of the crowd but couldn’t find them, so he shrugged. “They’re night owls. There’s a good chance they will be gone until morning.”

“So you’re saying we might have the place to ourselves?” The spark of delight returned to Chad’s eyes.

Gideon smiled, but had to swallow down his anxieties. “Probably.” 

Nodding at the exit, Chad gave a little tug to their joined hands, but didn’t let go. “Wanna lead the way?”

* * *

Lacey got back to the table right as Spinner was about to get up and investigate her disappearance. She seemed somewhat unsettled, but her eyes sparkled with determination and her grin spoke of mischief, so he didn’t ask any questions until she began rearranging their table. In only a few swift motions her chair was swiveled around to his side of the table, filling the space beside him, and her dishes and cutlery soon followed.

“You know, if there’s something wrong with that spot, I can get us another table,” he chuckled as she worked.

She made a face at him before settling down in her chair. The table cloth seemed to catch her up somehow and Lacey struggled with getting comfortable, adjusting first her dress then the white fabric that draped over it until she was completely satisfied. “The room spins,” she said when she was finished. “Going backwards was making me dizzy.”

“It rotates,” Spinner corrected. “Slowly.” Several pairs of eyes trained on the couple in their new arrangement, sitting side by side at a table that was almost too small to contain them in such an arrangement. “I’ll just take the other side-”

“No.” Lacey’s whisper was much better described as a barked order, so harsh that Spinner was startled into silence. He felt a hand rest gently on his knee and then travel up his jeans to cup him. It squeezed gently before letting go and Lacey gave him a sly grin. “Probably happens all the time here, right?”

A passing waiter tipped his head down at her. “Pardon?”

“Dizziness from the rotation,” Spinner explained, lifting his hand and making a swirling motion with a single finger. “Is this arrangement all right? She was having some trouble.”

The man nodded at them and smiled. “Of course, sir. This is no problem at all, so long as the space between the tables is kept clear. We do occasionally have guests who struggle with the room’s movement.” He glanced at their half-eaten food and gestured at the table. “Can I have your waiter bring you anything else?”

“Not at the moment,” Spinner told him.

“Thanks though.” Lacey tipped her head up at the man, her messy curls cascading over her shoulder. Spinner could imagine the expression that came with the pose, the flirty gaze and crooked smile that all but screamed seduction. Another man would have been jealous at the woman’s constant flirtations with strangers, but this Spinner character he’d created knew her to the very core. Those little actions were meant for him, even if they were aimed at others.

Once they were alone again, Lacey turned to face him and her hand returned to his lap, trailing lines and patterns over the tight denim that covered him. “I think we should play a game,” she murmured as her fingers worked, driving him to distraction.

“What sort?” Spinner lifted his drink to his lips, but nearly choked on it when he realized that her hand had worked the fastening of his jeans free. Sputtering, he managed to swallow, then used the pretense of reaching for the napkin in his lap to catch the hand that was working feverishly at his zipper. “Lacey,” he rasped past the burn of alcohol. “ _What_ are you doing?”

Her hand abandoned its work and reached for her own glass. Too stunned to make any movement to right himself, Spinner stared at her as she took a sip and licked the moisture from her lips before setting the glass down again. Once free, her fingers snaked along the table to where his hand rested on the edge and brushed over him before settling in place. Lacey’s eyes flicked from where their hands now joined to meet his and she gave him a wink. “Playing,” she whispered as she moved their newly joined hands below the table, where she guided them up her legs to the dress that was bunched high in her lap. 

Heart pounding in his chest, Spinner swallowed as the back of his hand brushed against soft curls instead of the rough lace that had been there before. “Lacey…” he rasped. There was no way that his Belle was suggesting what he thought she was. He had to be imagining the softness. His eyes took in the room nervously, studying everyone around them, but not a single patron seemed to be able to see his chest heaving or the panic erupting from him.

“We’re going to see how quiet we can be,” she told him before her fingers returned to the folds of his clothing, working quickly to finish setting him free. Exposed to the air and suddenly longing for her touch, he felt himself swell with need, a sensation that was both wonderful and unnerving, given their current situation. “We eat slowly…” Lacey whispered before her lips surrounded a small morsel of food and sensually pulled it from her fork while the tip of a finger traced his length. Gradually the heat of her hand surrounded him and moved once from the head to the base before withdrawing. “Move slowly, and see how this goes.” Now her hand was above the table, fingers toying with the glass as they had toyed with him.

“Are you _trying_ to kill me?” Spinner’s voice caught deeply in his lungs, rumbled in his chest and pressed out of him in something that sounded the way a slow, pulsing orgasm felt. As both a man who made deals and one who could never refuse the woman he loved, the pull to comply quickly became too great to ignore. Casting aside his previous uncertainties, he accepted Lacey’s challenge, fingers seeking her moist folds and playing there as he brought a bit of food to his mouth. His tongue wrapped around it and drew it in, then licked the juices from his lips.

Lacey’s eyes closed, either from the visual pleasures he’d given her or from the delights she could feel from his touch, which he withdrew just so that he could tease. Someone came by to refill their water and Spinner immediately reached for the newly topped off glass so that he could suck a piece of ice into his mouth and roll it against his cheek. He wanted her to imagine the feel of the cold against the warmth, wanted her to envision his tongue working against her flesh, the moisture of his kisses on her creamy skin contrasting the heat of their need.

They ate this way, in agonizing slowness, exchanging husky innuendos until their plates were empty and their bodies were desperate for release. Lacey was practically quivering beneath Spinner’s fingers by the time the meal ended and his own body now strained against an eruption of pleasure that would most certainly give them away once released.

“Dessert?” Lacey eyed him coolly, testing his resolve, her mouth quirked upward in a tease. She looked almost wild with unspent passion, but seemed just as certain that she would not be the one to back down.

“We can always have a bathroom break between.” One last time he tried to suggest something sensible that still held a bit of adventure to it. He knew that was what she was seeking. Lacey had always been the type to enjoy their pleasures among others, whether they were in the form of flirtations, caresses, or full bodied contact, and right now it appeared she would not give in. Her tilted head and questioning expression read as easily as a printed words on a page. Was he _really_ going to back down now? This close to the end? Spinner’s eyes wandered over her curves to settle on a spot at the table above where he knew her legs were parted, awaiting the return of his touch. “ _If_ you need one,” he added at last, relenting.

Lacey laughed. “If _you_ need one.” She corrected him by changing the emphasis of his words. She pulled her tiny clutch purse to her lap, then opened it and withdrew a bundle of blue lace which she quickly hid under the table. 

The rough fabric was suddenly nestled against Spinner’s swollen head, lightly scratching and caressing it in equal measures. He forced himself to hold on, shut his eyes against the need for release, and bit hard on his lip to focus his concentration on the pain. “Smart girl,” he growled around the swell of his lip. This was a war now between two strong-willed individuals, one he would join _and_ win. ”But not before you.”

“Oh, but who really loses this battle?” Lacey’s question danced on a breath by his ear as her fingers ran the lace over him in feathery touches. He knew now what she’d done, vanishing to the bathroom to remove her panties and saving them to be the instrument of his demise. A torture and a blessing, for he expected she planned to clean him with them as well. “Is the loser the one who cascades to oblivion or the one who has to wait?”

Beside them, their waiter cleared his throat and gestured at the table. “Could I offer you some dessert?”

Without removing the hand that held him, Lacey took the proffered menu in her empty hand with a cheerful “thank you” and set it on the table between them, then leaned casually over toward Spinner as she made her decision. Finger absently twirling her hair, she hummed with excitement that belied the slow, agonizing rhythm of her hidden hand and sighed with indecision. “I don’t know. It all sounds like the flavors would just explode on my tongue…”

Her choice of words alone were going to undo him if her hands didn’t, so Spinner jabbed a finger at the first thing that looked appealing. “The twenty one layer chocolate cake, please. With the orange peel tea.” Somehow his words flowed evenly against the throbbing of his pulse and the pounding of his heart.

“The warm butter cake for me,” Lacey finally decided as she handed the menu back and leaned heavily against Spinner’s shoulder. “And the herbal tea blend, please.”

“Right away.” The waiter answered with a nod before taking the last of their dishes and strolling off. Tucked away inside of Spinner, Rumple found some relief in the fact that if someone so close had no idea of what was going on right under his nose, then no one else was any wiser.

“Cake, hm?” Lacey purred against Spinner’s neck. “Already made. Just slice it up and put it on a plate. Doesn’t give us much time.”

The hand that had rested on the back of Lacey’s seat moved over her body and under the table. Her legs opened wider for him and his fingers slowly claimed her, diving as deeply as the angle would allow. Keeping a comfortable position while still appearing normal on the surface wasn’t the easiest of tasks, but the concentration necessary to maintain that balance also helped to redirect Spinner’s focus from his own throbbing need. Alternating his touch between the tease of her folds, the brush of the pads of his fingers over her swollen nub, and the careful dip into her moist center, he forced his mind to focus on Lacey’s pleasure rather than his own.

“Plenty of time to enjoy the view,” he rumbled as she swallowed down the sigh of ecstasy that came with the sudden pulsing of her body. She throbbed around his fingers in small beats that begged him to enter her properly, to be drawn completely inside of her and let her swallow him whole. Spinner loved that final moment of their passions when her bliss massaged him into his own oblivion and vowed that later tonight he would have it, whatever the expense.

Without warning a gentle flick of a touch along the side of his cock made him twitch in his chair in more ways than one. “I know what you’re thinking,” Lacey whispered as she rested her chin on his shoulder. “I know what you like.” Her hand mimicked the gentle beat of her body in the best way that it could, fingers closing around him, then releasing him while stroking at the same time. The lace was still there, ready in her hand, poised to catch whatever spill was made and the dual sensation drove him over the edge. Spinner tried to focus on the cityscape below, count the traffic lights, the number of floors in the buildings, _anything_ to stop his release, but the explosion of pleasure came anyway, scattering sparks of white through his vision. Forced to cover his moan with a cough, he busied himself with getting a sip of water while Belle discretely wiped, then returned her now moist garment to her clutch.

Spinner raised his eyebrows at her. “Souvenir?”

“Well I’m not leaving it here,” Lacey snipped back playfully before lifting her drink to her lips and taking a long swallow. Condensation from the glass lingered on her hand when she released it and she used it to wipe down the back of her neck. “That was… _so_ hot.”

“And dangerous,” Rumple pointed out, feeling a little more like himself now that it was all over. He knew his face was flushed from the realization of what they had just done and made a show of wiping his mouth and arranging what few items were left on the table, just as a distraction from his innermost thoughts.

In answer, Lacey’s lips moved right up to his ear and whispered. “You loved it, though. I could tell.”

The sound and the feel of her brought Spinner back with a vengeance and he almost growled in spite of himself. He turned his face to her and reached up to catch her damp neck with his palm, not quite forcing her forward, but pulling her face toward his with pressure that Rumple would never have used on her. His fingers tangled slightly in her hair and he held her, staring into her eyes with what he hoped was a look that said he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“When we get out of here, I’m taking you. Against a wall, in an elevator, in the back of the taxi, I don’t _care_ where we are.” He kissed her then, all Spinner, passionate and needy. Lacey allowed herself to be manipulated, even hummed into his mouth as his tongue plunged against hers. “You’ve had your fun,” he told her when their lips parted. “Now it’s _my_ turn to play.”

* * *

By the time the elevator chimed in front of them, Gideon had changed his mind. Again. In the span of time between leaving the pool and stepping up to the set of double doors his mind had leapfrogged between his options. Chad didn’t seem the type to be wooed by fame or fortune and Gideon wasn’t at all sure that he wanted to be seen as anything other than just another regular guy. Yes, his family had money, but they didn’t live like it, not most of the time, anyway.

“You um, you want to pick a floor or should I?” Chad broke into Gideon’s internal debate with an unsteady grin and a gesture at the control panel in front of them. He was trying to hide his amusement, but was entirely unsuccessful.

Without thinking, Gideon stuck his key into the slot and pushed the button that would take them to the higher of the two floors that he had to choose from. Decision made, all he could do now was hope that he didn’t drive this man away. “Sorry.”

Chad’s eyes widened. “Wow. Penthouse, huh? Nice.”

Thrashing out wildly to try and stop the elevator, Gideon shot off a succession of rapid apologies. Words spilled from his mouth in ways that seemed to make no sense at all, yet he couldn’t stop them until another head steadied his own.

“Don’t apologize,” Chad told him. “Lots of people come here to live the big life, get a little taste of everything that money or fame can buy.”

“This isn’t a taste.” Pacing to the back of the elevator, Gideon slumped against the wall and ran his hand through his hair. “My father… I guess you could say that he made his own fortune, but that’s not really the way we usually live. We stay in cottages and Air B&B’s, we rent out town homes and log cabins set so far back in the woods that no one can find them. I spent so much time growing up as a normal kid that I forget everything else and I know that’s the way he wanted it to be, but I don’t want you to think that we… I-”

Slowly Chad stepped closer. He carefully planted one foot on either side of Gideon’s legs and leaned in so close that a single deep breath would have brought their bodies together. “I’m not going to look at you like you’ve been raised by Daddy Warbucks. You wanna know something? I met this great guy downstairs. He’s tall and handsome and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s intense and soft at the same time, and I don’t think I could ever see him any other way. You got all that?”

Gideon smiled despite himself and gave a little nod. “Yeah. Sure. Guess we’d better go find that guy so you can say goodnight.”

“I meant you, silly!” Chad cried out in an effeminate voice as he pushed away from the wall, always so careful to avoid full contact. In the same moment the door let out a ding and parted for them to exit. “Guess this is our stop. You coming?”

“Guess so, since I live here,” Gideon countered, brandishing the key card. He shivered when they entered the hallway and ran his hands over his arms to try and warm himself. “Don’t know what I was thinking letting the others talk me into running around in this. It’s so _cold_ here.”

Chad shrugged. “Trying to make up for the heat outside and the number of bodies roaming the casinos. Not to mention the countless drunks overheated on their choice of poison.”

“You really have this town worked out.” 

Another self depreciating lift and fall of Chad’s shoulders was his only answer for a few steps, but eventually the other man opened up. “I grew up here, stuck around after school to help my mom, got into the police…’

“A cop, huh?” Eyebrows raised, Gideon turned to walk backward a few paces and give Chad a smile. “Do they take you right out of school here? I didn’t think most places would.”

Chad’s head tipped to the side, studying Gideon as if he’d just been introduced to someone completely new. “That turn you on? I mean, I guess you do keep a lot of us around you.”

The slight echo of the other man’s voice changed, signaling the end of the hallway and Gideon stopped sharply before he could bask into the suite’s sturdy door. “What you do is just a part of who you are. It isn’t like I lust after cops or anything.” Suddenly he thought of Lex and the way it felt to be pressed against the gargoyles hard, muscled back before he’d grown too big for that mode of travel. He thought about how both Lex and Amp had been presented to Chad as members of law enforcement and realized _just_ how that made him seem. The nervous rambling began again, in earnest. “I mean, I know Lex and-”

“Hey. Relax,” Chad whispered as he reached up to brush his fingers through Gideon’s hair. “I’m teasing you.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean your profession has anything to do with why I like you.” Gideon humphed, wishing he could pull himself together.

“So you _do_ like me, then.” The tease was gentle, soft, just like the fingers that trailed down Gideon’s neck, making him shiver.

He felt his lips twitch into the beginnings of a smile before worry crept in again. “Of course I do.”

“Sounds like there’s an exception coming.” Chad’s hand dropped to his side and his face fell, contorting into something blank and unwelcoming.

Worried that he had broken their budding trust with only a handful of words, Gideon reached to catch the other man’s arm, terrified he would walk off and leave him cold and alone in the empty corridor. “No, no! I just… I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I want you to stay. I want you to hang out for as many days as we have together.”

Chad smiled, but it wasn’t an expression of certainty, if anything, it was the exact opposite. “Hang out. Got it.” He didn’t sound disappointed and he didn’t pull away, but Gideon still felt a pang of guilt at having come up here under what Chad might believe was false pretenses. They hadn’t actually spoken of sex, but wasn’t the offer of the room something that implied more than a long night of conversation, even when he’d thought he’d suggested the opposite?

“I should have been more explicit downstairs,” Gideon sighed and gestured to the door. “Look, I want you to stay, but I’m not… I know what a lot of guys expect.”

“You’re green?”

Gideon blinked and fought the urge to think of Zelena or the whispers he’d heard from his parents about his father’s scaly skin. Then he thought of Lexington’s normally olive complexion and lost all track of what they’d been talking about. His mouth opened and closed uselessly while Chad’s smile gradually grew wider.

“Oh god,” He gasped dramatically as he returned to the charming man Gideon had fallen for. “It’s true. I don’t know how you’re hiding it under that amazingly tight swimsuit that fits you _perfectly_ , but it’s true. You’re _green_!”

“Like the color?” Gideon blinked again, startled at this sudden turn, unsure what to make of it. 

Chad nodded. “Yeah, cutie, like the color.”

Finally catching on, Gideon frowned playfully and nudged Chad away. “I can prove _that_ isn’t true when we get inside.”

Somehow, within the blink of an eye, they had become the stereotypical gay couple, all play and theatrics. They’d fallen short of saying things like “absolutely” and calling each other “girlfriend,” but the gayness between them was certainly flaming. Chad’s eyes caught Gideon’s and softened, wrapping him in the kindness that he’d come to know as a part this man who was perfectly formed, both on the outside and within. Unable to face it any longer, Gideon turned his back to slide the key card into the slot. “I meant-”

Chad’s hand came up to the door handle and caught Gideon’s just before he could swing the door open. “Hey.” He waited until Gideon turned around and gave him a genuine smile. “You’re a cuddler. I get it. Especially since we’ve only got a week to spend together. I didn’t come up here because I want to ride you, I came up here because I just want to _be_ with you. I think you’re a great guy and I really enjoy talking with you, I _love_ flirting with you, and I just don’t want to give any of that up yet. All right?”

“Sure.” Gideon felt himself blushing and tried to turn away, but Chad pressed closer, nudging him into the door’s frame, keeping him still.

“You believe me and I’ll believe you,” he said softly before grinning like a fool. “Except the green part. I still think you’re hiding that somewhere.”

Before he could overthink anything, Gideon reached up and caught Chad at the back of the head, then guided his face in for a kiss. It started carefully, though he could tell Chad was willing, but after a moment they were breathless and had to pull away. Gideon chuckled at him and lowered his hands to the waistband of his swimsuit and slid it down to a point just below what would be considered publicly decent. He watched Chad’s eyes flick down, then widen. “Not green,” Gideon insisted. “But if you want more proof you’re going to have to wait until we get inside.”

* * *

The journey from the restaurant to the hotel had taken much longer than it should have, but that was entirely the fault of the couple trying to make their way. Lacey had been pushed against countless walls, pulled into several dark corners, and had indeed enjoyed some sneaky pleasure in their taxi. Of course she had retaliated with some pushing, pulling, and touching of her own, especially in the taxi, where Spinner became so unable to contain himself that he had asked the driver to drop them off earlier than they planned. Now they were enjoying an evening’s stroll under the lights and among the crowds, walking arm in arm in the dry heat of the evening.

“You know, I think it is entirely unfair that women get all of the excitement,” Spinner said suddenly.

Lacey blinked at the announcement that seemed to have come out of nowhere until she felt Spinner’s hand snake down her back and caress her curves. His palm cupped her and his fingers roamed, lingering where they would normally be an outline of lace and fabric, but was now smooth as the skin beneath. She stepped into the caress, making certain that he got everything he was looking for, wanting to remind him _just_ how close he was to everything he wanted. Suddenly she was sensitive to the open air again, feeling it around her and she knew what he was missing. “We can arrange something,” she said, smiling up at him. Her hand flew into the air and gestured at the street ahead of them. “Pick any one of these buildings. Plenty of bathrooms. Duck inside… and make a clothing adjustment…”

“Me?” Spinner blinked, then leaned closer when she nodded. “Not the same for me as it is for you,” he rumbled into her ear. “All that fresh air caressing you won’t touch me.”

“We’ll put you in a kilt!” The idea came out of nowhere and Lacey found herself almost bent double with laughter at his expression, then laughed harder when he tried to cover her, since the fact that being bent over meant her dress was exceptionally revealing. She flapped a hand at him until he relaxed, then grinned. “No one is looking. Stop being a shop owner and go back to being that devilish flirt. Now, pick a place to stop and make a choice, get rid of one item or buy an overcoat and lose it all.”

Spinner’s eyes darted around in search of anyone who might be listening to this conversation, then shot back at her with fierce determination. “We’ll try the overcoat if it rains,” he hissed seductively at her before clasping her arm and guiding her off the sidewalk and into the nearest hotel.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be one of the Monthly Rumbellings that prompted "up against the wall". It was back in summer and it was what started this whole three chapter long mess in the first place. It is long past whenever it was due, but enjoy anyway.

“Wow.” Chad stood, mouth agape and eyes wide, staring up at the cascade of crystal that dangled from the second floor of the Gold’s presidential suite. Gideon had to skirt around him to reach the switch that would fill each delicate shape with a golden glow. 

“Yeah,” he answered once the room lit up. “My father kind of had big plans for me this week.” He ran a hand through his hair and glanced around the place, taking in the vastness of it for a second time, trying to work out what everyone saw in it. 

Opposite the entrance was a two story wall of glass panes that overlooked the strip’s glowing lights, the first of which was the single beam of white that shot skyward in front of them from the pyramid they’d left behind. It pierced into the black of the evening, beyond the tallest window and disappeared out of view, into the night sky. Beyond the beacon, more signs and buildings flashed, flickered, or remained constant, highlighting the mismatched buildings that stretched down the main road, calling to customers in the loudest ways visually possible. The view was probably the biggest draw, Gideon decided, imagining the distant desert mountains glowing with the fire of a sunrise or sunset. The windows had curtains and sun shades, but he wondered if they ever got used. There was no need for privacy here, they were above the world.

The view was broken, however, by columns which weren’t that obtrusive, and a beam that separated the second floor windows from the first. This feature Gideon found off putting because it not only shattered the perfection of the glass, but it broke the curtains at their midpoint, forcing the uppermost section to seem utterly out of place, as if someone had just come in and knocked out the floor, shrugged their shoulders and left visitors to wonder how one would walk to said curtains to adjust them. He suspected there was a power switch somewhere, connected to a system of electric motors that did the work, but it seemed jarringly out of place, as did the monarch butterfly carpet that covered the gradually winding stairway. It began near the center of the room and crawled upwards in a wide curve that would hold two or three people abreast and each butterfly was the size of one of the steps. They spread out bright orange wings against a gray-brown patterned background, rippling their way upwards in a clash of texture and color. That failed to match anything else in the room beyond the wooden floor.

Other area carpets were as gaudily patterned, mixing pale peach and wine red in random designs. The furniture sitting on top of them was either brown and subtly patterned or a pure white, depending on what part of the room you were in and whether you were looking at a table or a chair. Sofas seemed to be brown for the most part and chairs, on average, were white, but the marble surfaces that made up tables, storage, and countertops could be either of the two. Adding all of this to the brown patterned curtains both clashed and somehow made sense. It was nice enough though, Gideon supposed. It had a feel of the joining of Castle Wyvern and the Eyrie Building to it and he could see now why his father had chosen it. Somehow, after this realization, it felt a little more like home.

Chad turned to him, shock and amazement written all over his face. “Your father must _really_ care about you to get you all this.”

“We needed the bedrooms.” Gideon shrugged as he wandered further in, leading the way around the corner to the bar. He dropped his collection of room keys, his fake ID, and the last of his money onto the marble surface, glad to no longer have any of it digging into his hand or tucked firmly between his swimming shorts and his hip. “I would have been happy with regular rooms joined together. We have been living so simply for so long that I wasn’t used to this sort of thing any more. I actually threw a fit when I first saw this place. I mean, I really acted like a child. It broke his heart. And my mother’s. I can see that now, looking back.

“Seriously? You _didn’t_ want to be here?” Chad’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah. Well at the time I thought it was four rooms for the three of us and I got angry about the fact that my father spent so much on space we wouldn’t use. Then I got upset about even being here in the first place. I wanted to be able to say goodbye to the g- guys.” Gideon caught the word gargoyles and swallowed it down before making the correction, then stared at the contents of their bar as a means of hiding his mistake. He didn’t really know what he would do with anything in front of him. It wasn’t like he had any experience actually mixing anything, but since the drinks at the pool had been rum based, he pulled some out and grabbed a soda. “You want something?”

With the shock of their location fading, Chad was finally able to drift further into the room. He wandered Gideon’s way, moved behind the bar and gave a little hip bump to nudge him over. “Let me show you how to make some stuff. I don’t know a lot, but I entertain occasionally.” After gathering a few things he turned a narrowed eyed gaze of suspicion Gideon’s way. “You _are_ legal, right? I mean. You keep talking about going away to school, but you don’t _look_ young enough for it to be your first year.”

“Had to show my ID to get in to the party, didn’t I?” Gideon grinned, trying to offset any lie he would be required to tell with the best possible truth. He nodded at the collection of things on the bar. “It’s right there if you don’t believe me. Though I have my doubts you’d trust it, since you think I’m green.”

Chad went about his work, moving slowly so that Gideon could watch, teaching visually while they chatted, even positioning his fingers on the glass before pouring to show just how much of the next ingredient would be added. “Still have to have proof of that,” he countered. “Could be makeup.”

“Okay, you’ve got me. My mother does a _fabulous_ job with this new waterproof foundation. ” Gideon raised his hands, spreading himself before Chad for inspection. The other man’s eyes left his work and eyed his body, flicking downward for a heartbeat before returning to his task, but didn’t say anything. Catching him in the act, Gideon grinned and tried to add one more detail to drive his point home. “She taught me everything I know, including the best way to put it on my-”

“Right.” Chad thrust one of the glasses into Gideon’s hand. “Your mother is _not_ something I want mentioned in the same sentence that refers to your exquisite manhood.”

Gideon cocked an eyebrow at him and leaned against the bar, drink in hand. “Exquisite? How do you figure that one?”

“Um…” Another glance downward was the only answer Chad offered. “Obviously.”

Humphing, Gideon took a sip of his drink and sighed with contentment. “Well, to explain my life to you in a nutshell, I was home schooled and with all the traveling we did my education got a little… complicated. I’ve basically had the beginnings of my college education already, but I’ve reached the end of what my parents can teach me, so I’m off to the academy.”

“What are you studying?” Chad leaned on the wall opposite from Gideon and lifted his glass to his lips.

Gideon tried not to watch the other man’s tongue lick at the moisture that lingered after the drink was pulled away or watch the bob of Chad’s throat as he swallowed it down. He stared into the brownish liquid he held and skewed his mouth into a quirky line as he thought about his options, finally settling on what made the most sense. “Medical science, I guess you’d call it. It’s really kind of hard to explain.”

“Okay, so a genius, then.”

Unable to accept that title, Gideon shook his head adamantly against it. “No, not really. I’m just trying to help people.”

“Yeah,” Chad said softly. “I get that. So I guess from what you’ve said that your father or your mother does medical or science stuff too and you’ve just reached the point where you need bodies or technology, so you’ve got to go away?”

“Something like that,” Gideon told him with a sad smile. “I don’t _want_ to leave them. They need me, especially my father.”

If any questions came to Chad at that comment, he let them slide. “Going far?”

“Yeah.” Looking around the room, Gideon gestured away from the bar. “You want to sit or something?”

“Question avoidance. Message received, loud and clear.” Chad raised his glass with a smile and tipped it toward Gideon before taking a sip. “Sure. Let’s sit.” His eyes went wide as he took in the length of the room. “You’ve even got a piano.”

Gideon watched Chad hurry over to the instrument, taking note of the shape of his body, the curves of his backside, the muscle in his arms. He wasn’t built like a gargoyle, but he wasn’t a slouch either. Of course, he had to be fit enough to pass whatever physical exam was put to him in the local police force, but Gideon knew, through Elisa, that most physicals weren’t as strenuous as people expected. This was a body that was given just a little extra attention to shape and mold it into something even more beautiful than it had been to begin with and Gideon appreciated that work immensely. 

Across the room, Chad snatched up one of the coupon booklets from a pile at the coffee table and set it on the marble counter under the television, using it as a coaster beneath his drink. To see him have such care for something that wasn’t his touched Gideon, warming him in a pleasant, comforting way. He’d never given any thought to the type of man he might end up with. There had been Lex, of course, but that was a boyhood crush, a span of time in a friendship where lines got a little muddy, but weren’t ever crossed. Gideon wondered where Lexington was now, what he and Amp were up to in a city so much like their own yet so different. He thought about what life would have been like if he _had_ taken that step toward a relationship with one or the other of them, but then cast it aside when Chad’s warm smile lifted up at him from the instrument a room away. The reality of his life struck him then, a life that might eventually hold relationships and maybe love somewhere within the tightly woven strands he’d already set into place to frame his future.

Light notes began to drift on the air, echoing in the giant space. They called Gideon forward, pulling him in like a fish on a line. “You play?”

“No. My grandmother did, though,” Chad admitted. He lifted his hands in the air as proof, yet the music continued.

Gideon’s eyes went wide and he had to catch himself before he blurted out something about magic in a land that held none. “How did you do that?”

Once Gideon was at his side, Chad got up from the bench and pointed at a small box that hung from the underside of the piano. “It’s automatic. You just push a button and it plays something.”

“I have never seen that before.” Curious, Gideon pushed one of the selections and the tune abruptly changed from a tittering melody to a waltz.

“You dance?” Chad’s hand was outstretched to Gideon. “I mean, to something like this. I know you’ve got moves in the club. I’ve seen that already.” His eyes turned wickedly sharp and his eyebrows waggled suggestively.

Unsure how to answer the question, Gideon shrugged and moved to set his drink beside Chad’s. “I do. Not the way most people expect, though. I learned from my parents and they-”

Suddenly caught up in Chad’s arms, Gideon found himself being guided around the room, slowly and deliberately. He found he could simply fall into step with relative ease after only a few breaths and his ability seemed to please his partner. Soon their bodies were close, moving as one, not with any flourish or fanfare, but it was dancing all the same. “Here’s a cliche for you. I had to learn for a wedding.”

“Not cliche at all,” Gideon told him. “Traditional things always take a backseat to whatever is modern, that’s how cultures change over time. If it didn’t, we’d’ all still be wearing loincloths and writing with charcoal.”

“And neither of us would be here,” Chad whispered. He was only an inch or so shorter than Gideon and the breath drifted over Gideon’s shoulder, making him shiver with delight.

Gideon listened to the music for a while, relishing the sensations of skin against skin and realizing the oddity of this ballroom-like experience when they were wearing little more than loincloths themselves. He felt the movement of each muscle as Chad guided him around, imagined him in something elegant from the Enchanted Forest, a golden stitched vest over a shirt with a high collar and frills at the wrists and throat. Chad would make a good knight, he decided, since the man was practically one now.

“Whose wedding?” The question came before Gideon knew he was going to ask it.

“Jealous?” Chad chuckled.

Gideon huffed. “No. Just curious.”

“My sister’s. We lost my dad when we were kids, so I had to walk her down the aisle and she asked me to do the father daughter dance, too. I was so nervous about it that I went out and took all kinds of lessons, only to find out that all _she_ wanted to do was stand and sway on the spot.” A chuckle came with that confession. “Wasn’t money wasted if I get to use that education on you.”

Face flushing, Gideon tipped his head down a little with embarrassment. He tried to come up with something smart in reply, but found nothing but his odd humor to fall back on. “You don’t even know what color I really am. How do you know I’m worth it?”

They stopped moving and Chad’s hands lifted to cup Gideon’s face. “You’re worth it,” he said before drawing Gideon in for a kiss.

* * *

Of all of the things that Rumplestiltskin imagined doing with his wife, wandering around Las Vegas, Nevada after purposefully discarding his underwear was never something that had come to his mind. He hadn’t ever envisioned himself as Spinner either, nor thought he’d spend any time with Lacey again, yet here he was, carefully striding from the restroom he’d ducked in to, feeling exposed and alive all at once while Lacey’s crystal blue eyes regarded him lustfully.

“Well?” Lacey purred as she sauntered over to him and draped her arms over his neck, pressing close so that her body rubbed against his rapidly growing erection.

He tipped his head, trying to get back into the Spinner personality after the jolt that had come from the unfamiliar physical sensation of denim against sensitive skin. “Glad we waited until we were only a block away,” he said while adjusting one leg, then the other to better settle the fabric around himself. “You have the benefit of a more freeing garment.”

Lacey hummed. “We’ll get you out of them soon enough.” She pressed her body against his and bent her head up for a long kiss. Her tongue danced in his mouth and he felt his length twitching at the thought of her moist folds so close, and so exposed, yet so untouchable.

“This is going to drive me to madness,” he insisted once the kiss broke.

“In a good way,” Lacy promised. She let her hand trail over his body and cupped him briefly. It was a tender touch, aware of the newness of it all and accepting of his worries for the fabric rubbing. She was still his Belle, after all, even in this wildly unpredictable state. “Besides, we’ve got to get you trained for the day you wear that overcoat.” She turned around then and strode away, body swaying with each step, taking the end of her sentence with her. Spinner had to hurry to catch up and he tried not to wince at the sensations created by his newly liberated state.

“I thought it was this _or_ the overcoat,” he protested, even as he got the door for her.

She shrugged noncommittally. “See how you like it first. I bet I’ll change your mind.”

The couple headed back out into the night and Spinner felt the dry heat touch him in ways he hadn’t experienced before. Even with the jeans pressing against him there was a certain freeness about wandering the streets as he was. With one less layer of fabric between himself and the world he felt secretly exposed. Spinner knew the contours of his form were more visible now, just like he knew that all of this contact with Lacey was making those lines even more prominent as we swelled with need.

Lacey reached her hand into Spinner’s back pocket and settled it there for a while as they walked, cupping and caressing his backside as he had done for her before their little detour. When they reached the stairs to the elevated walkway, her hand slipped from his pocket and dove beneath the waistline, touching only skin. Spinner pulled away and eyed her as they climbed. “I’d very much like to get back in one piece tonight, without any arrests.” He eyed her cautiously and thought about the advantages of her outfit and nodded ahead of them. “You go up first.”

She pouted at him. “I don’t need an escort.”

“No, but maybe I need the view.” Spinner’s voice became throaty and seductive and Lacey needed no further encouragement. She happily stepped forward, one step at a time with an agonizingly slow pace. Staring out at the city around them, she pretended to be distracted by the view, using it as her reason to force others to walk around. Rumple had a surge of regret at not having their camera with him, to capture the moment of the glow behind her and the wind in her hair, but then he caught sight of the exquisite flesh under Lacey’s dress and snapped back to reality, trailing behind to admire all of her that he could see.

“We’re switching positions on the way down,” he told her when they both reached the top and stood on the long, flat platform that crossed over the road. People were standing around and trying to get pictures of themselves under the city lights and Spinner pulled Lacey aside. “Let’s just stand here a minute,” he said, turning them so they were facing directly down the center of the strip, angled slightly toward each other. “We’ll go on when we’re ready.”

Lacey blinked up at him. “Ready? You need encouragement to-” Her breath caught as Spinner’s fingers snaked their way up her leg and dipped under her short skirt, trying to tease. It was impossible to do without flashing everyone around them, so he gave up in the end, but the attempt left Lacey breathless and encouraged her hands to wander on their own.

With his shirt untucked and hanging free, it was much easier to hide the fact that Lacey’s hand was sinking down into the front of Spinner’s pants. She moved carefully as they stared out at the traffic below, allowing her fingers to roam where they could while people passed behind them, completely unaware. To cover her actions, they pressed close to the barrier and each other, continuing casual conversations about the hotels they had visited that night and ideas for things to do in upcoming evenings together. By some magical gift, Spinner was able to mostly hold up his end of the conversation, though he was forced to bite back a moan when she finally released him and pulled away.

“I _really_ need to get back to our room,” Lacey told him when she turned her back to the drivers below who were blissfully unaware of what they’d just witnessed.

“Oh?” Spinner raised his eyebrows and gave her a wicked grin. “And why is that?”

Lacey put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to one side at him. “I think you know why, Mister Spinner.”

He chuckled and pulled her close for a kiss. Oh, he did very much know why she wanted to get back, because he was feeling exactly the same way. Another second of this teasing game between them and he would simply lose all self control and take her then and there, ignoring all sanity and the wandering crowds. “You go to the bottom of the stairs and wait for me. I’ll be right down.”

“What are you planning, exactly?” Lacey eyed him suspiciously.

Spinner leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “Revenge.” This time he did send his hand farther up her short dress, but only for the briefest of moments, in the blink of an eye he was gesturing ahead of himself, at their intended destination.

Still seeming uncertain, Lacey did as she was told, hurrying down the steps with cautious glances at those around her, hands holding her dress as tightly to her body as she could manage. Sequins sparkled in the colorful lights like brilliant stars come down to earth and Spinner felt a wash of emotion come over himself. He imagined a bride frantic to get to the altar, skittering down steps to charge into the room that held the man she loved and tell him that yes, she _would_ marry him. In this little daydream Lacey threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly, flushed and exhausted, just as she always was after a long night of lovemaking.

“You coming?” It took a moment for Spinner to realize that the voice calling out was Lacey, glaring up to the top of the bridge with annoyance. 

Where had his mind gone just then and why had it drifted in that direction specifically? Spinner shook his head to clear it and met her gaze, locking his eyes with hers before strutting forward. He knew the moment she realized what he was doing. Lacey’s blue orbs grew wider, dissolving into a lustful expression that lowered slightly before he’d taken even the first step down. Chuckling, he maneuvered toward her in slow, deliberate movements that would show off every curve to her. From the edges of his vision he could see two men whispering as they stared at him. He knew that the outline of his cock was as visible as if he had it standing freely at attention in front of him, but he didn’t care. The only thing on his mind now was finding that throbbing member tucked inside of the woman he loved as she wrapped her hot core around him.

“That’s the last time I doubt you,” Lacey breathed when he reached the ground. She lifted her eyes from his body to the distance and stared past the last two hotels that barred them from their own. “How fast can we get there?”

* * *

The piano stopped sometime before their lips parted, but Gideon didn’t truly notice until Chad pulled away. “Sorry. You said you weren’t looking for this kind of thing and here I am pushing myself on you. No more drinks for me. Sobering up. Right now.”

Gideon rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I really resisted.” He watched the guilt spread over Chad’s face and felt his heart sink at the notion that he had somehow hurt the man. Insecurity and worry began to fill him, topping his emotions off at a level that he almost couldn’t handle. Words refused to come even when he wanted them to, and for some insane reason, he couldn’t make himself reach out to provide physical comfort either. Instead, he did the only thing he could think of. 

Reaching for the band of cloth that covered him, Gideon quickly pulled it away from his hips and down his legs, kicking it away in the direction of the full length windows. Chad’s eyes flicked down for the briefest of moments before his hand flew up into the air in protest, wobbling where it was held. “You don’t have to-”

“What? Be comfortable in my own skin? You wanted to make sure I wasn’t green, remember?” Gideon chuckled.

“I wasn’t being serious!” Chad was almost in a panic now and Gideon started to back away, but that only seemed to make it worse. The other man spun quickly, turning to stare at the window and the discarded garment.

Gideon moved back to where he had been standing, then held still. He wanted to reach out and put his hand on Chad’s shoulder, caress his arm, reassure him with physical contact, but he knew that wasn’t the best thing right now, so he kept his hands in fists at his sides and worried. “Look, I’m not offering myself to you, I’m just comfortable in my skin. To me, flirtation, touch, and even kisses aren’t necessarily the beginnings to sex. I just _don’t_ think about it like other people do. That’s the man I am, but I don’t want that to make you uncomfortable.” He turned his back on Chad then, and started toward the stairs. “All my clothes are in the other suite, but I can go get one of the robes from my room and then I can go get my bags.”

Before he finished talking, a hand caught Gideon’s arm and held him still. “Don’t.” Chad whispered the word as a breath before he turned, eyes focused intently on Gideon’s. “I’m a cop and I think you’re a really great guy and I don’t want to do anything wrong here. You told me you’re legal and I want to believe you but I _honestly_ don’t know how I can because the whole story you’ve given me so far isn’t what I’m used to hearing. Never mind that on top of that you’ve told me you aren’t interested in anything sexual. So not only do I feel like I’m forcing you into something you don’t want, but I don’t know if I’m technically doing it to a kid.”

Realizing just what dilemma he’d put Chad in, Gideon lowered his eyes and muttered an apology before gesturing beyond the stairs, to the bar. “You can still check my ID. Run it, do whatever you need to do,” Gideon told him, shaking his head. “I really like you, but I get it if you can’t stay. I don’t want you doing something that makes you uncomfortable either.

“Someone so desperate to have their ID checked has something to hide,” Chad huffed. “I mean, you can’t really tell me where you are from or where you’re going from here and I get some people are private like that, but... You’re staying in a place like this and picking up guys at pool parties. How do I know I’m not getting into something _way_ over my head here?”

Gideon pried himself from Chad’s grip and went back to sit at the piano bench, hoping the instrument would mostly block his body from view. He lifted a hand into the air, gesturing at the pile of imaginary, unasked questions that stood between them. “Go ahead. I’ll answer anything.”

Chad eyed him suspiciously, but finally gave a sharp nod before tossing out the first question. “How old are you, really?”

“Nearly twenty,” Gideon told him immediately. “My birthday is in the fall. So yes, the ID is a fake, _but_ , in case you hadn’t guessed from my accent, neither of my parents are American and where we come from I’m well past being an adult in their eyes. To them, I’m old enough to be married and thinking about having children…”

“Seriously?”

Gideon nodded. “My mother was engaged when she was much younger than I am now. Not to my father. He saved her from something truly horrible, but that’s not the issue here. I’m not some lovesick teenager. I’m not holding back from sex because I’m too young or afraid of it. I just believe it’s something for people with something more permanent than we can have in one week. And one week is all we _can_ have. I’ll be gone too far from here for you to even reach me and I’ll be gone for too long for you to wait for me. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us to act like this is something grand or eternal, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to have a good time with you. There are plenty of things I’m _willing_ to do, if you’re willing to not do the rest.”

“Woah. That’s… You’re not afraid to hold back,” Chad told him.

“My parents are very open people. It’s just how I was raised.” Turning his gaze down at the keys, Gideon ran his fingers tenderly over the white surfaces and caressed the raised edges of the black keys. He was physically and emotionally bare for an almost complete stranger and he really didn’t want to think about it too much any more, or what it said about him in Chad’s eyes.

Movement toward him made Gideon look up and he saw Chad walk across the room to the bar, pick up the ID and examine it. “Seems legit,” he said.

“It is except for my age.” Gideon didn’t move, barely breathed. He didn’t want to get into the complications of his existence and silently begged Chad to end these questions. 

Chad thought for a moment, head tipped to the side. “You’re not in witness protection or anything?”

“No.”

“And your friends are really cops?”

“If you want to check me out, you can call the New York Police. Twenty third precinct. Ask for Elisa Maza, she works with the GTF, it’s a special organization up there that I don’t know if even _I_ can really explain. Ask her any questions about me that you want. She’ll answer them. She was the one who helped my parents recreate all of my identification and papers when they were destroyed right after I was born.”

Chad came back over to him. “Not that I’m taking you up on that offer, but you _do_ know that you could just be paying the woman to say whatever you had planned.” 

“Then I’ll go upstairs and shut myself in my room. You ask her questions about me, totally random stuff that I’ve never told you, the most insane questions you can think of. Call me out and I’ll give you the same answers. She’s like an aunt to me, I guarantee you she will know almost anything.” Gideon moved to stand, but Chad put a hand on his shoulder.

“If you’re telling me that you’re not being pimped out to catch a cop, I believe you. Some of that story might be full of more questions than they answer, but I believe you,” Chad said. He glanced down, but Gideon couldn’t tell if the gaze was aimed at the piano, his lap, or something that wasn’t in the room at all. “As long as not wanting sex isn’t about not wanting me-”

Gideon did stand then, pushing against the pressure that held him in place. He reached up to slide his fingers through Chad’s hair. “I’m gonna say stuff that always makes people cringe, but just listen, okay?” At Chad’s nod he went on. “I was miserable when we got here. I went to the party tonight because my parents left me alone, hoping I’d go. My father orchestrated this whole thing and I hated it, but once my friends got here and I figured all of that out, things changed. I was excited about the party, even if I didn’t go there to meet someone. I just wanted to enjoy myself, have time with my friends. When they introduced me to you I really wasn’t sure I wanted you to hang around. This was my time with _them_ … But then you pushed me just that little bit into something I didn’t know I was comfortable with and I just wanted to wallow in it. When the party ended I didn’t want that to go away, even though I knew I didn’t want something intimate to happen between us. I just couldn’t let you go. I _am_ a sexual person. I enjoy flirting way more than I should, and I know there are _many_ ways that we can enjoy each other’s company without crossing that one line, but if you aren’t comfortable with me or with that situation, then I want you to go. I’m not going to be that guy that strings you along just to push you away. I can’t do that to anyone. I can’t do it to _you_.”

A long silence drew out between them and Gideon worried that he’d said too much. He envisioned Chad turning away and rushing to the door, never to look back. Instead he was given the beginnings of a genuine smile. “You really do say everything you’re thinking, huh?” Chad’s hand trailed over Gideon’s chest and his eyes roamed down much lower than the caress should have taken them. Gideon knew he was being examined and he tried not to feel a surge of hope or a twinge of pleasure at being so open and exposed to this man who was not hard to look at himself.

“I told you it’s just how I was raised. Stick around this week and you’ll see.”

Chad blinked and his eyes shot up to meet Gideon’s again. “After only a few hours you’re asking me to move in?”

Laughter escaped Gideon even though he fought it. “I’m asking if you’re willing to share your time with me, yes. Stay the night or go and come back tomorrow. Whatever you’re most comfortable with. Just don’t let this be our only time together.”

“I have work,” Chad said in a voice that sounded as if he regretted the words. “But when I’m not working, I’d like to be with you, while I can be.”

Gideon grinned. “Then stay. I’ll try and make it worthwhile.”

“ _You_ are worth my being here,” Chad insisted again before pulling away. “But if we are going to do this, I’m going to have to level the playing field.”

Breath catching in his chest, Gideon watched as Chad pulled down his own swimwear and tossed it to the side. His stance gave away his insecurities over the exposure, so Gideon was careful about how his eyes roamed. The man before him was shorter in length than Gideon was, but in no way disappointing. His cock hung down, but away from his body, displaying a growing desire that Gideon selfishly hoped was in reaction to his own build. A tan line was visible now that the suit was off, leaving a perfect outline of where the fabric had once been. So he did tan, then, if only a small amount. Either that or Chad spent his free time at the pool. 

“The only thing I want to say is that I feel like you stepped out of the art museum,” Gideon admitted. “But that is maybe a little weird.”

“Yeah, a little,” Chat agreed, easing back into his zone of comfort. “But I think you like well made guys.”

“How do you figure that, other than that you’re standing naked in front of me and I can’t hide how I feel about that?” Gesturing down at himself, Gideon managed to draw a chuckle from Chad once the other man noticed the stiffness of Gideon’s own length, as it lifted from his body, seeking attention.

Chad shrugged and moved for his drink, taking it with him as he reversed several strides to give Gideon space. Wandering eyes gave away the true meaning of the distance, though, which Gideon was grateful for. “Sure, but I mean… Your two friends… Amp and Lex? There’s something with the three of you.”

“Mmm, not really,” Gideon warned. “I mean, I had a crush on Lex when I was younger, but he was already with Amp, so…”

“Wait… Younger? Aren’t you two-”

“He’s a lot older than he looks,” Gideon pointed out quickly, not willing to get into _that_ explanation either. His shoulders rose and fell as he tossed his next comment aside like it was not at all news. “It surprises everyone.”

Silence filled the room again, rolling in from an invisible perimeter and collecting between them like a fog. It was something they didn’t fight, using the time to get to know the physical bodies connected to the personalities that each had come to be attracted to. Gideon found there was something very sensual about giving himself over to another man this way, knowing that nothing was attached to their nudity but the pure enjoyment of the male form. He moved to his drink, took another sip, and eyed Chad over his shoulder to gauge the other man’s reaction on seeing his back fully exposed. To Gideon’s delight, he caught the twitch of arousal before Chad turned back to the piano, pretending to examine it.

 _I need to stop tormenting him,_ Gideon reminded himself before a whole new kind of glorious torment came to his mind and wouldn’t let go.

Swallowing down the fear that rose over his next suggestion, Gideon finally set down his empty glass. “So if I suggested we go wash the pool water off of ourselves, is that something that is going to be a problem? You can join me or we can take turns. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I think we can keep our hands off each other for that,” Chad told him, putting his own glass down beside Gideon’s. The heat between them was almost too much for Gideon to bear and he was grateful when Chad stepped away. “And if I can’t keep my hands off you, I’ll step out. Your rules.”

“Yours too,” Gideon said before there was a loud thump elsewhere in the room that sounded as if someone had aimed a wrecking ball at the building.

Chad instantly shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, body in a stance of readiness as he inserted himself between Gideon and the sound. “What the hell was that?”

Familiar noises answered him and Gideon chuckled, brushing past the protesting protector to pad his way around the bend in the room and gesture at the main entrance where his parents had entered, dressed as the characters who had left earlier that night. He had expected them at some point, but he hadn’t expected them to come in like this, hands and mouths devouring each other as if they had been starved of contact for centuries.The desperation between them certainly wasn’t anything new, but their actions towards their need were a bit of a shock. His father had his mother pinned against the wall and was not so gently encouraging his mother’s dress to rise above her hips, revealing flesh where undergarments should be. His mother, of course, was more than happy to oblige, pulling him closer with hands turning white from their desperate grip.

“That’s just my parents,” Gideon said simply before turning around to ignore the antics in the entry. “They don’t usually dress that way.” He shrugged and walked off toward the spiral stairs, expecting Chad to follow, but the man stayed behind long enough to make Gideon turn at the bottom step.

Eventually Chad snapped out of his shock and moved away, whispering harshly. “Your parents are fucking in front of us and ‘Oh, they don’t dress like that’ is all you have to say?”

Gideon gave a smirk that he hoped conveyed that he was playing around, then shrugged again. “Sorry?” 

He got an answering nudge on his backside as Chad pushed him up the stairs. The touch lingered for the entire climb and Gideon wasn’t about to argue against it.

“Your family really _is_ one of a kind.”

* * *

The lock on the suite door had barely clicked before Lacey and Spinner slammed into the solid barrier, pushing it open with their bodies because their hands were otherwise engaged. They found their way by touch alone, bashing into the nearest wall in their desperate need to have the door shut them away from the world. Everything in this moment was about kissing, touching, and needing. In the restaurant and everywhere else they had to hold back, but here they could have anything they wanted and Lacey wanted it all. She let out a yelp into Spinner’s mouth when her back hit the wall, then a surprised moan escaped her as she felt him lift her leg, hands running up the already short dress to bunch it well above her hips

Sitting at the table without underwear had been a thrill, and walking through the crowds without it had been extremely sensual, but feeling spinner’s fingers sliding inside of her while the rest of the world carried on, oblivious, was especially arousing. It turned her on and gave her release, yet denied her the full pleasures that her body was yearning for. All of the little teases and torments of the night had piled, up and now, away from the world at last, she needed to be filled to her very core by his hard, hot length, feel it gliding inside of her and burst to fill her with his passions. It all made this private exposure something purely electric. She broke their kiss to tilt her head back as far as the wall would allow, exposing her neck and throat to him and whispered for Spinner to give her more.

“I need you,” she told him as she raised her leg higher over Spinner’s hip, pulling him tightly against her heat. She felt her fluids moistening his jeans and ground against the hard form that had been so perfectly etched into the tight denim for their entire walk home, displaying every dip and curve and leaving nothing to the imagination.

“Defeating the purpose, I think,” Spinner rumbled back. He ran a hand up the exposed flesh of her leg again until it cupped her backside. Somehow his fingers found a way to toy at her folds from that angle and she yelped again, pushing him away just enough that she could get her hands between them.

Fighting for the right to undress him, Lacey both struggled with his belt and pushed his hands from her dress in alternating movements. “Leave it,” She told him in a husky voice. “I want you here, right now, just like this.” Once she finally pulled the end of the belt free, she began her work on his button and zip, letting the leather dangle free at his sides.

Spinner chuckled and left her to her work, choosing instead to nibble along her neck while she was otherwise occupied. He left her in full control of how much clothing was kept on and what parts of him would be exposed to her. “You didn’t get enough at dinner, I take it.” The words vibrated against the steady thump of Belle’s pulse, driving her into wild trembles of desire. “I’m a horrible date to have let it get this bad.”

“You _wanted_ it to get this bad,” Lacey toyed back as she finally finished the work with his fastenings, exposing his sensitive flesh with tender care that belied her desperation.

“And _you_ are the one who started it. Strutting around Las Vegas in that short skirt while you made certain I knew what _wasn’t_ underneath.” Spinner snarled at her, a wicked look in his eyes that drew her close.

With his clothing semi open to her now, Lacey reached in a hand to cup what she wanted most. She pressed her palm to him and gave a gentle squeeze while shifting position for a better grip. He was hard and hot and as ready as she was to be inside of her, but she wanted to tease, just once more, until a tiny dribble of moisture formed under her fingers and she gently pulled away.

“Lacey,” Spinner grunted before his forehead touched hers. “Belle…”

Hearing her name did nothing to break her fantasy, it simply brought more desire to the surface. She wanted her husband and wanted this man that he had become just for her, the one who flirted outrageously while sipping fine scotch and who couldn’t keep his hands off her no matter the location or circumstance.

“Rumple,” she murmured. “Spinner. I need you. Her hands worked to free him and she trembled as he moaned his approval. Somewhere she heard voices, whether from another room or down the hall, she didn’t care. In fact, she suddenly wanted everyone within earshot to know just how wonderful this man was, how expertly he pleasured her. She wanted everyone to be jealous and need Spinner _just_ as much as she did, all while she reminded them that he was _hers_ and no one else’s.

“I want you inside me.” Lacey’s words were a cry of desperation, loud and demanding. She would have nothing else in this moment. Her hand caressed his length as she exposed him, but it needed no encouragement to rise to meet her, hard as he was with a need of his own.

Suddenly, Spinner’s knees bent under him and Lacey found herself lowering by inches to the ground. The sequins of her dress scraped against the wall loudly as they sank down, then in one long scrape as she was suddenly lifted again. She felt hands cupping her exposed backside, making a sort of seat for her even though her own body’s angle and the pressure of her back to the wall held a good bit of her weight. Dress bunched up above her hips, all of her lower half was exposed to him and the contrast of the denim with Spinner’s smooth skin drove her to madness.

He entered her, as ordered, swiftly but with such tenderness that she nearly melted. That part of Rumple could never be undone. A moan escaped him, mingling with hers and their foreheads met, pressing as hard against each other as their bodies could be in order to hold their position. It occurred to her that they’d never truly done this, even when she was cursed as Lacey and had tried her hardest to coax Gold into taking her in alleyways and in the shadows cast by the streetlights of Storybrooke. He had always gone so far and never further, worried for her flesh or her clothing or giving some other excuse. She’d always suspected it was his leg that held him back, now, with nothing to worry about, he began to thrust with wild abandon.

There wasn’t any talking from that point on, only the need to fill and be filled and the feeling of entrapment that was also the most endearing expression of trust and support that Lacey had ever experienced. Her mind swirled with emotion and she whimpered through it, finding a way to grind her hips against him to catch every inch of him. She needed another contrast, a physical one now, and struggled a little with her position in his arms until he caught on to her desires and pressed deep, cradling her with his softness at the same time that he was rigid inside of her.

Lacey’s head tipped back against the wall with a thump that she expected should have been painful, but simply couldn’t feel. Her body was too alive, too much in need. She wanted to shed the rest of her clothing, expose herself to him, give him everything at once, but she was too close to the brink of her bliss and from Spinner’s quickening pace, she knew he would travel there with her. Determined to give him release at the instant she found her own, Lacey’s arms traveled higher, from where she grasped his shoulders to wrap around his neck. No thought went into her actions, only instinct, and suddenly her fingers were tangled up in his hair and holding there, almost pulling his head back and away from her body. The cry that escaped him completed them both.

Sparks of white flashed before Lacey’s eyes as her body pulsed around Spinner’s cock, drinking him in. Now all it wanted was to suck him dry, yet none of it was enough. Somehow, even though she could feel his essence rushing inside of her, even though she knew she was sticky with the mingling of their fluids, it wasn’t enough. She had to keep going, had to scream out again. Shifting her hips, she begged for more, but Spinner was forced to step away, sliding out from where he was nestled inside of her, leaving her feeling cold and empty.

“I need a moment, Lacey,” he chuckled in a way that spoke of love and passion and absolute devotion. Even as the words escaped him, his hands were moving, working at the fastenings of her dress and yanking it from her with a force that said he meant to continue with her pleasures until his body allowed him his own again. Naked but for her delicate bra, Lacey leaned against the wall, writhing in a display that she knew would entice him, pulling a growl out from his chest.

Spinner dropped to his knees, then, hands reaching up to her still covered breasts, mouth kissing and nipping at her flesh as it traveled up the outside of one leg, across from hip to hip, then down the outside of the other. His eyes looked up to hers, asking, but she shook her head and caught her fingers in his hair again, hoping to guide him back to his feet. “Get that off,” she told him, nodding at his clothing as she kicked off her shoes and walked away.

Glancing over her shoulder, Lacey could see his eyes on her and the frantic movements of his hands as they struggled to strip him bare for her. She gave him a come hither look before turning at the piano and leaning back against it. Part of her wanted to undress fully for him, but most of her wanted to remain as she was, at least for now. Since they were experimenting with allowance and denial, she wanted to see what it would feel like to have her most private areas so exposed while the lace confined her chest and kept her swollen nipples under as tight a covering as his jeans had held him in. She needed him to /see/ her need and so, without giving it too much thought, she hoisted herself onto the lid of the piano and settled back on her elbows, legs spread and dangling from the polished wood.

Eyes wide, Spinner abandoned the pile of clothes by the door and strode over, devouring her with his gaze. “That’s a bit high,” he remarked as he eyed her.

“You have hands,” she cooed. “And I want you to _see_ what you do to me.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was written for November's Monthly Rumbelling. I used the word prompts this time: steamy windows, half-dressed, temptation, and rain. There is also a bit of like father like son in here, but we won't really hear anything like that until everyone wakes up in the next chapter and Belle points it out.

“Damn,” Chad swore as he and Gideon reached the top step. “We left our bathing suits.” He turned and stared carefully over the railing, eyes peering through the distance in search of the objects in question. It amused Gideon to think that this man had, only moments before, seemed so uncertain about striding around naked and had now almost forgotten their clothing existed all together. Then again, having the parents of the guy you are seeing stumble in to the room _while_ going at it like rabbits would probably throw even the most stoic of people. 

“They’re not going to mind,” Gideon told him. He quirked the corner of his mouth up in a cheeky grin and gestured at the door to his bedroom. “I have robes in my room. We can wear those tomorrow morning until we can gather the evidence.”

Eyes narrowing, Chad took the stance of an officer who’d caught someone in the act of violating some minor law. “First of all it isn’t polite to leave that down there. I wouldn’t do it to my own mother and I certainly wouldn’t do it to yours. Secondly, order and tidiness are part of the job with me. I mean, I don’t go by military standards or anything, but…” 

“I’m getting the impression that you think I’m a slob.” Worried that he had hurt the other man’s feelings, Gideon tried to lighten the mood with a tease, but A flash of pain crossed Chad’s face and Gideon knew he’d taken the wrong direction. To make up for it, he ran a caress up Chad’s arm and stepped closer. “I’m sorry. It’s just that, for me, this isn’t about leaving a mess, this is about giving my parents _their_ privacy, but if it matters this much to you, I’ll go back, you stay here.”

“My idea, I’ll go,” Chad told him curtly as he moved away. Almost skipping down the stairs, he ignored all further protests from Gideon. Intent on his destination, he skittered away like a child eager to test his limits and not get caught. Then, about halfway down, he let out a quiet squeak of alarm and made a hasty retreat back the way he had come. “Whoa! All right, the bathing suits can stay.” 

Considering the somewhat precarious position his parents had been in, Gideon’s mind immediately shifted to dread. He imagined Chad finding them in a heap on the floor, broken or bleeding, and no amount of rational thought would change his mind. Peering over the railing at the room below he tried to contain the panic in his harsh whisper as he listened for cries of pain. “What happened?” 

“Nothing. There’s _nothing_ to see,” Chad insisted, placing a palm on Gideon’s arm and trying to nudge him from the ledge. “We’re going to move on. Did you say you had robes in there?”

Gideon allowed himself to be guided away from the banister, if reluctantly. “Why does it upset you so much that I might see my parents having sex? They’re _my_ parents. If either of us should be upset at seeing them in any compromising way, shouldn’t it be you?” He almost laughed the words.

“Your mother is on the piano,” Chad blurted out. “No son wants to see that.”

A rush of amazement poured through Gideon’s heart, making his chest swell and his eyes widen with surprise. “Really?” He tipped his head to the side as he broke from Chad’s grip and returned to the stairs for a better view. A wash of protectiveness consumed him in that moment, mingling with pride and uncertainty. Such adventurous things as he’d seen tonight hadn’t really been his parents’ style before now. They weren’t people who did role play and his father despised the idea of dominating his mother. Yet here they were, seemingly at the brink of bliss, and Gideon’ simply couldn’t believe any of it.

Silently he crept down until the angle of the stairs brought the piano into his line of sight. Chad hadn’t been mistaken, his mother was naked but for her bra, and propped back on her elbows, legs spread wide for his approaching father, who wore nothing at all.

“Okay,” Gideon whispered. “This is new…” 

He heard Chad almost choke at the top of the stairs and turned a grin up at the man who stared down at him in pure horror. Chad sputtered and gestured before tipping his head skyward and dropping his hand at his side. “You really are a _strange_ family.”

Gideon shrugged and came back up to lead him to the bedroom, letting Chad enter first while he fumbled for the light. “It’s not strange to know what sex is, especially at my age, and it certainly isn’t odd to expect them to be doing it. They had me, after all. Besides, knowing their sex is an act of love only reminds me how deep their love for each other truly is.”

“So it’s about love then, this part of you that says he wants to be a cuddler? You’re waiting for love?” Chad’s voice, muted now by the smaller room and carpeting, seemed different to Gideon’s ears.

He flipped the lights and started toward the bathroom, talking as he padded past. “Not really. I’m just not ready,” he reminded Chad. “I have attraction but not the full on desire.”

“So then this collection on the bed isn’t yours?” The question was so full of amusement that Gideon actually froze, mid stride, and turned to see what Chad was talking about.

He was holding a collection of silver packets whose pointed edges stuck out at all angles between his fingers. He opened his fist and let them pour out like grains of sand, then reached down to grab more. Pinching them between his thumb and finger, he rubbed them together, making them slide past each other suggestively.” That’s a lot of protection for a guy who doesn’t intend to sleep with anyone. I’m clean, by the way. And on PrEP.” Chad then tossed the condoms down onto their counterparts, leaving his hand outstretched above them to present the pile for Gideon’s attention. It was all a show and Chad was loving every second of it.

Rolling his eyes, Gideon marched himself past the bed and back toward the bathroom, where the shower was suddenly calling his name. “That’s from my father,” he sighed, voice echoing in the marbled room.

He heard the the packets tapping on a hard surface and imagined Chad dropping a handful onto one of the night stands. Then a drawer opened, and all he could hear was Chad’s laughter. “What about the ones in the drawers?”

“They are probably from my mother,” Gideon groaned back as he dropped his head against the glass of the shower in exasperation. He imagined her slipping some in to his room before they vacated the suite and wondered what would have happened if no one had come back. Would housekeeping have cleaned them up? Had his parents planned to come back anyway and leave the other suite for him? Was there now a similar pile on his other bed? 

A vision of his father came to him next, sitting down with him to talk about the sexual act in relation to a man’s physical health and how important it was to be gentle and thoughtful, no matter what type of lover you were. It made Gideon rethink his assumption that his mother had left the items in the drawer, because there was nothing about a pile of condoms on the bed that spoke of the kind and discrete nature that was his father. It was too abrupt, too obvious, and his mother had been the one rushing down the stairs when Gideon had begun his temper tantrum. “Maybe it was the other way around,” he decided at last. “Which collection had the lube with it?” His mother had the best intentions, but it was his father who would have been certain of that detail.

There was silence for a moment, then an answer. “The ones in the drawer. Wait! No, some of these packets on the bed _are_ lube.”

Gideon lifted his hands skyward and dropped them to his sides, letting them slap against his legs with his frustration. The sound bounced around him, seeming loud enough for his parents to hear downstairs, and he wondered what the two of them had imagined when making this pile of offerings. If everything had gone to plan, would they have been downstairs for when Gideon returned? Would they have been listening for his reaction to this discovery if they hadn’t been caught up in their own passions? Could they have thought that the slap of skin on skin was actually the contact of balls against flesh and therefore an acceptance of their gifts? He groaned despite himself, then whimpered when he realized what _that_ sounded like, which then made him almost cry because he couldn’t get his mind _away_ from the natural soundtrack of sex.

“You okay in here?” Chad chuckled from the entry. “You stuck on the door somehow? I can come help you with that.” His voice was all charm and dripped with playful sarcasm in all the right places to drive Gideon to distraction.

“Just… Please don’t assume that those gifts from my parents mean-” Gideon felt a hand on his back and his heart and breath both caught in his chest. He didn’t want sex, but he wanted that hot, built body wrapped around him from behind, holding him while the man that inhabited it whispered into his ear.

None of that happened, of course. A true gentleman, Chad kept his distance. “I had a friend whose mother gave him a hotel key card and a love box on prom night. Lube, condoms, toys, the works. She said that, if he decided to have sex, she was going to make sure he was safe and would remember it forever instead of his first time being an uncomfortable tussle in the back of some car in a dark, dangerous alley. It’s great that your parents care about you that way.”

“Thanks.” Gideon smiled before looking around the bathroom. “Well, um… I’m going to change the subject here. So… We can both get in this shower or one of us can take the tub. Or I can wait outside while you-”

The hand pressed gently to Gideon’s back then drifted away. Feeling suddenly cold, Gideon shivered and watched as Chad took a step sideways and nodded at the tub that was built up against the glass, but stood outside of the shower itself. “You go in. I can use the tub.”

“You sure?” 

An embarrassed smile answered Gideon’s question as Chad bent to turn on the tap, releasing a cascade of water into the deep square basin. “I want to respect you and I think if we share a shower right now that’s going to be kind of hard.”

Gideon let his eyes drop below Chad’s chest and follow the form of his body. Bent over the rim as he was, his length should have been fairly well hidden, but the distinct shape of his rounded tip was protruding obviously into view. “Hard like something else in here?”

Chad took his turn to study Gideon and grinned. “Like two somethings, maybe.”

Nodding his agreement, Gideon stepped into the shower and closed the glass door, shutting himself in. With a barrier between them he hoped his body might be less desirable and give Chad a moment of peace from the torments of having to look but not touch. “You’re okay with staying here, right? Because I don’t want to torture you. If your being here without sex is something you can’t do or don’t want to do…”

“There’s something to be said for this power of seduction thing that you have going on,” Chad answered before he reached in to the cascading stream and tested the water, then ran his wet hand over his chest, making Gideon swallow hard. “And if you’re up for a little torture before bed, I am happy to play that game too.”

* * *

Belle stared up at the chandelier from her position atop the piano and pondered how someone would go about cleaning it. She felt the press of the instrument’s hard surface on her aging bones, but simply couldn’t make herself move. Sated and spent, she lounged as she was, bra still on and otherwise exposed to the world, one leg dangling toward the floor. Tipping her head to the side provided a different angle with which to study the tiny crystals and gave her an entirely new perspective. 

“Wisteria,” she announced at last.

At the suite’s door, Rumple looked up from where he was collecting their discarded clothing into a bundle in his arms. He chuckled as he watched her, shaking his head. “No more tonight, I think,” he told her before closing the distance between them. “Your mind has been lost somewhere in this evening.”

She lifted a hand to swat at him, but since he wasn’t anywhere near and because she was so exhausted, the motion turned into a weak flap that only seemed to prove his point. “The lights,” she huffed, motioning him closer, limp muscles turning even that into a limp-wristed flap. “Come here.”

Rumple tipped his head at her with all the authority of the old Mister Gold from before their marriage. “The wall was quite the adventure, but sex on a piano isn’t my thing.” He sneered a little, but his eyes sparkled to say he would make exceptions just for her, and Belle smiled softly back.

“I need a rest too.” She waved him over again and he came, but instead of standing beside her, he dropped the pile of clothes to the floor, scooped her up in his arms and walked her to the sofa that sat directly under the dangling objects in question. She had no idea how his legs even functioned at this point, seeing as how they had supported them both in their last little escapade, but she wasn’t in the mood to object.

There were three throw pillows preventing the perfect lounging position on the sofa, so once she’d been placed down, Belle lifted the two she could reach and dropped them to the floor, kicking the last away with her feet. The space was still narrow, but she fit well enough and now, directly under the glow, she could sigh with contentment. The cushion provided a gentle support to her full body, making her realize how every inch of her was crying out for comfort. There were some places where the length of a walk didn’t hit you until you’d completed it and she knew she could now count Las Vegas among them. Her feet and calves practically sang in their joy at being properly coddled and Belle breathed out an equally melodious sigh of contentment.

A throaty hum of concentration came from somewhere in the room before the lights around them cut off, leaving only the golden glow above and the cityscape outside to illuminate the giant space. “Sit up a little,” Rumple whispered when he returned to her, and she happily complied.

The warmth of his skin pressed against her as he settled into place at her back, adjusting both their positions so that he could lie down and draw her to his chest. It was an easy fitting together of bodies, one accomplished only by years of similar arrangements. Every part of them fit together in a perfect jigsaw so that they could stare up into the space above. Originally used for either cloud gazing or on the many nights camping out under the stars, it was now the perfect position to stare into the sparkling crystals as one entity, admiring the beauty of the world. Soon enough she could feel his breath in her hair as they stared up into the warm glow together and she dissolved into her contentment.

“It’s almost as big as the castle,” Belle told him after a while, because it was the first thing that came into her head.

She felt Rumple’s body shift slightly and imagined him looking around. “Maybe,” he relented. “In some ways. Not as many nice features back home.” His hand rose to gesture at the light, teasing her about where her attentions were focused. When it lowered, he ran a tender touch over her breast, fingers toying at her nipple to prove that the chandelier wasn’t the only feature he was complimenting with his words.

Belle squirmed beneath him and felt his body stir in response. “You wouldn’t have let me display those for your careful examination.”

“Are you so sure about that?” Rumple chuckled.

She shrugged, then stilled, thinking of all of their days in the castle. There had been so much love between them, even in the beginning. “I don’t know,” she answered, knowing it was probably the least helpful response. “I don’t think so.”

“I wanted to,” Rumple told her. “There were so many times when I looked at you and thought that you were simply the most precious thing to me. It wasn’t even something I could put into words, really. I just _knew_. You were golden light and a gentle breeze and the soft caress of a rose petal and the feeling of home all in one sensation, even when you drove me to madness.”

Belle huffed. “I didn’t drive you to madness.” She waited for only a heartbeat to hear his argument, then tipped her head back to try and look at him, body arching into a stretched form that made him practically purr with delight.”Did I?”

“Taking down my curtains, insisting I was _kind_ , changing the way I made my deals? Oh, you most certainly did drive me to madness.” Rumple ran his fingers through her hair. “Do you remember the day I brought that baby home and thrust it at you?”

“How would I forget?” Belle shifted a little, rolling in place so that she could face him, her stomach to his, her cheek on his chest. “That was the time you tried to get your mother to explain everything to you.”

He nodded, eyes glazed over so that they could stare into the distance of a past time. “I had my back to you and when I turned around and saw you holding that baby I thought you would make the perfect mother and I suddenly _knew_ what it would be like to have a family with you. Then an image of you round with our child burst into my head and I nearly fell over backwards. I just couldn’t allow myself to dream that it would be possible.”

“So you kept turning me away,” Belle reminded him, her voice sad. “It was, though. We could have had all of that if you’d let me. After you stopped being so stubborn.”

“Belle, I had to-”

“Baelfire,” she whispered softly before he could go on. She reached a hand up and ran her fingers along his scalp and through his hair, wanting to comfort him before the sadness could strike. “I know.”

There was silence between them then, a moment of mutual grief that settled over them like a thick blanket. Belle closed her eyes and welcomed the stillness it brought.

* * *

The echo of rain filled the glass cubicle that Gideon stood in. Eyes closed and head tilted skyward, he tried to catch the heat of the cascade that showered down on him. Feeling the burn of rivulets pour from his face to rush over shoulders, back, and chest helped eliminate the need to take his throbbing length in hand and constantly running his hands through his hair kept them otherwise occupied. Water fell to the white tile below, stinging as it traveled over his body, but Gideon welcomed the pain. Even with these distractions, his body still gave all of its attention to the distorted form beyond the foggy panels and he was _trying_ to give the other man some space.

Only three inches away, on the opposite side of the glass, Chad was motionless, moving only on random occasions. He was as stretched out as a man could be in a bath of that size, settled at an angle inside the square tub, back in one corner and legs pointed toward the golden faucet by the shower’s door. Chad’s head was tipped back and because of the fogged surface Gideon hadn’t been able to tell if the man’s eyes were open and staring up at the vapor drifting overhead, or if they too had been shut against whatever vision he might encounter facing the same glass that tormented Gideon.

The sensuality of seeing Chad’s perfectly sculpted form distorted into a blur that left little to the imagination yet somehow concealed everything at the same time sent blood rushing to Gideon’s cock. Every shape in front of him was indistinct and yet he knew exactly what he was looking at, be it an arm, the man’s smooth chest, or the peak of a knee that rose out from the water’s surface. Gideon wondered how deep the tub was and found his mind imagining the water line caressing muscle and, perhaps, dancing around a certain organ that was as full and as in need as Gideon’s own. Was Chad’s length draped casually over his body or bobbing among the bubbles? The fact that the question couldn’t be answered made Gideon’s head swim.

Unable to hold back any longer, he stepped just out of reach of the shower’s spray and called out past the cascade’s echo. “Are you all right over there? I can turn around.”

“How do you know I wouldn’t like that better?” The answer came as a chuckle, then there was a splash, accompanied by the raising and lowering of a flesh colored shape that was obviously an arm. “I could turn around too, you know.” 

Gideon heard the sloshing of water and bit his lip to hold in the reaction that came from imagining Chad’s naked form, soapy and wet, maneuvering in the bath. He tried not to think about how the suds would be clinging to damp skin, sliding down low. They would snake over his body in casually wandering trails and highlight all of the other man’s curves before settling in places where Gideon wished he could be nestled, warm and content with his attraction.

“Well, I, um…” Gideon turned to scrub his face in the falling droplets, sputtering as he did so. He needed a moment to compose himself and once he was satisfied that he would be able to continue, moved to reach for the soap on the shelf. “I just don’t want you to-”

More splashing came from behind him and it took everything in Gideon’s being not to try and peek over his shoulder. “Back up a little when you do that,” Chad suggested. “Right up against the glass.”

“You sure?” Gideon half turned to face him and saw that Chad was now leaning forward, arms crossed over the edge of the tub, face gazing up at him through the glass. Round, muscular butt cheeks protruded from the water, surrounded in foam. The fog made it impossible to know how Chad had managed to contort himself into this position and Gideon didn’t care. He let his eyes lock on the fuzzy shapes and allowed his imagination to place them right up against his own body, spooned into a perfect fit.

“Yeah,” Chad promised. “I can handle it. What I can’t handle is pretending I don’t want to see you slick with suds and dripping in front of me.”

It was all too easy to comply. Taking half a step back removed Gideon from the spray and placed his body against the glass. Though the air was filled with heat, the surface was almost cold to the touch and he shivered involuntarily, which pulled a moan from the man on the opposite side of the barrier.

“Shit that’s hot.”

Gideon chuckled. “Cold, actually.”

“You know damned well what I mean,” Chad scolded, then proceeded to explain himself by narrating Gideon’s actions. “You have an _amazing_ body, all lean and muscular… Calves that bulge just enough to say you climb or run… Thighs that are hard and lean, and make me want to climb on _you_ and feel them wrapped around me… And those arms… Every muscle defines itself against the others in the perfect ratio that tells me you could hold yourself over me for days without trembling.”

Trying to ignore all of the flattery, Gideon chuckled and bent low, pretending to spread soap down to his ankles. He felt the muscles of his backside press harder against the glass and imagined the outline of curves that was now presented to his flatterer. If Chad could torment him with descriptions, Gideon could provide torments of his own. “Don’t know if I would go that far,” he told Chad. “I mean, most of me is hardly worth mentioning.”

“You _do_ know what you’re doing to me, right?” The question was almost a choking gasp, part cough, part growl of pleasure.”

Gideon stood and moved in place so that he could face Chad, letting the water rush over his back while just barely pressing the front of his body to the glass. Where his skin had touched the clouded surface there were now clean patches for him to peer through and his eyes drank up the sight of soap and muscle that he’d only been able to imagine before.“ Want me to stop?”

“Hell no,” came the reply through the sudden, familiar gurgling of water rushing down the the drain. While the bath emptied, Chad reached to cut the faucet back on, then settled back into his original position, as sprawled as he was able to be in the space he’d given himself to fill. “Two can play at this game.”

The fresh liquid pouring in rinsed the lower half of Chad’s body, revealing feet, ankles, and sturdy calves of his own. He remained in that position for some time, eyes unashamedly roaming over the shape Gideon now made on the glass. They lingered low, where Gideon’s hard length was held to the side, trapped between body and the clear barrier that kept it on display. 

Eventually Chad’s eyes drifted away to stare in scrutiny at the bubbles on his own body. “Won’t do,” he said, water sloshing around him as he leaned forward a second time, now settling in position to kneel in front of the gushing spout. Slowly his hands cupped the water and raised to pour it over his muscled form, releasing small splashes of liquid heat to dribble down his chest and arms, forming canyons in the soapy residue that clung to his skin.

“It’s like a river is carving you out of stone,” Gideon told him. “Each pathway revealing a perfect etching of hard muscle.”

Chad paused, mouth in a wide grin. “You sure you’ve never done this before? I think you just whipped my ass in the sex talk arena.”

The corner of Gideon’s mouth twitched, but he wouldn’t let it rise to a full smile. “I read a lot. I talk to my father about stuff.” The answers were half question, half statement and Gideon shrugged them away as unimportant. He didn’t really know how he’d come to enjoy this sort of thing nor had he had any sort of practice. It just seemed to be something he wanted, so he gave in. “I’m only telling the truth, anyway. You’re gorgeous. Every inch of you. Especially like this.”

Now it was Chad’s turn to shiver, his body quivering uncontrollably at first, but then it seemed to turn into something forced. “Okay. Turning this water to cold now…”

“No, I’ll go.” Leaving the glass, Gideon hurried to shut off the shower and cracked open the door to reach for the towel that hung just outside. He clutched it like it was a lifeline, pulled it up against his body and let it hang in a bunch of fluffy, white folds over the erection that was becoming too obvious to ignore. He nodded at the space he just vacated and padded across the room, trailing droplets of water as he went. “Easier to wash off in there.”

“Cute _and_ practical. How’d I get lucky enough to fish someone like you out of the water?” Chad grinned as he rose from the tub, extracting himself from one wet container only to enter another.

Gideon refused to turn around as he left the room, but caught sight of Chad’s reflection in the mirror on the way out. Cool, dark eyes followed his retreat so steadily that Chad almost stumbled in the shower when he hit the tiled wall. “I’m not the catch,” Gideon told him as he strode away. “You are.”

* * *

Spinner and Lacey properly vacated the suite at about the same time that the Golds had begun reminiscing about their lives before they’d known of this land. Rumple was sad to feel his alter ego fade away, but was grateful that for a few hours, on one glorious night, he’d been allowed the freedom to explore what might have been and test the limits of what could be. Back to his usual self, he’d offered to carry Belle to their bed, but she had adamantly refused, pushing him away with a playful nudge and sauntering over to the twice abandoned clothes pile to lift it to her chest.

Noticing the perfection of her soft flesh, Rumple couldn’t help but let out a moan. “I’m going to need a little more attention if you keep doing things like that,” he told her softly before closing the gap between them and reaching out to run his fingertips along her spine to her hip. His palm settled in the gentle curve there, fingertips just touching the edge of curls between her legs. This was one of his favorite places to hold her, though it worked best when they were in bed and she was spooned against him. In that position the perfect draping of his arm could settle his touch just in this spot and it almost always ended in his fingers seeking out the nub among Belle’s folds and teasing it until she cried out with delight.

Belle turned her head to eye him with suspicion, contorting her bent body into an unusual position. “Do you have enough Spinner in you to want me like this?” Her backside pressed against him, testing his resolve and Rumple nearly broke from the idea of taking her from behind while she was bent over. Taking her from behind in this position was too much like domination as it was and doing it while she was tidying a pile of laundry repulsed him.

“No,” Rumple promised, quickly releasing her to take a single step away. “He is well and truly gone, but am _I_ not allowed to admire your body?”

She stood and turned to him, mouth quirked in an adorable half smile that melted his heart to the very core. “If we’re doing anything else tonight, we’re doing it in _our_ room. I’m not going to stay out here for our guests to find in the morning.”

Rumple gestured to a black leather bench that stood parallel to the full story window. “We could try stretching out there. Leather and lights, a bit of artful draping with my shirt. Who would know the difference?”

“I think I’ve been wrong all this time,” Belle told him, marching off past the tiny office desk that was tucked away in the corner of the room. In only a few strides she was shrouded in the darkness that was their bedroom, and her voice called back from the void. “You are a monster. And I created you.”

There might have been a time when a comment like that would have sent Rumplestiltskin into a spiral of worry over what Belle might truly think of him, but tonight, after all of their antics and with a body still filled with desire, all he could do was laugh. He padded through the room behind her, stopping only to flip the switch that eradicated the darkness from their chamber, then came to her side to catch the pile of clothes before she could put them down. Pressing against her, he sandwiched the fabric between them and managed to pull her close, bundle and all. 

“Who’s to say I didn’t create the monster first?” His head teetered in an approximation of a gesture he would have made when he was more slender and covered with scales.

Belle’s eyes narrowed at him. “What do you mean?”

Standing naked but for this barrier between them was a sensual experience that Rumple hadn’t expected and he found his body trying to wriggle through the gaps, seeking hers on instinct. “I’m sure a lady such as yourself would never have dreamed of being pressed against a wall, taken hard and fast while begging for more. Now, after committing to spend a lifetime with me, here we are, doing just that.”

“Rumple!” Belle yelped and tried so swat at him, which only served to release the clothes they held together, letting them slip to the floor. Rumple didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her so that he could finally release her breasts from the lace that contained them. His fingers worked deftly at the clasp, then followed the line of each strap to her shoulders, where he pushed the slender ribbons away, forcing the final garment to join the rest.

His thumbs followed her arm back upward until they found the soft mounds of her breasts and played with the darkened nipples, already hard from his attentions. “One more time,” he whispered. “But not as Spinner and Lacey. I want you, Sweetheart. You in the heat of all of the passions you held in for so long. And I want you to have mine.”

“My Rumple,” Belle breathed, reaching a hand up to run fingers through his hair. “We spent an entire night doing what I wanted. Of course I’ll do whatever you have in mind.”

Smile pulling at the corners of his lips, Rumple took her hand and pulled her along to the bathroom, where he gestured at the tub and the shower that stood beside it. “Which one?”

Belle put her hands on her hips and shot him a meaningful stare. “If I tell you, then you aren’t getting what _you_ want,” she reminded him. “So if you are going to force me to chose, I say both.”

“I only asked for one more time,” he reminded her as she almost strutted into the shower and closed herself in. Rumple felt his eyebrows raise when she peeked over her shoulder at him, devilish grin beaming through the glass. He gestured at the empty space around himself, then lifted a hand to indicate her glass cage. “And how am I going to do anything from out here?”

There was no verbal answer, only the gentle cascade of water as Belle turned it on and jumped aside with a yelp of surprise. She pressed her body into the only dry corner available and writhed with surprise before putting her fingers out to test the temperature. They toyed with the droplets that fell, wriggling and dancing in the air among them until Belle’s eyes met Rumple’s and her hand left the water to make slick trails over her body from her shoulder to wander well below her naval.

Rumple wanted to keep his eyes on hers, wanted to become lost in the blue coolness of them as the room began to heat, but his attention was drawn to those delicate fingers and the dance they were doing over her slowly dampening skin. Protests began to fill his mind. She was alone and he was unable to hold her or touch her. He was outside, watching her tease herself and was being denied the ability to give her pleasure. This was supposed to have been his one last time for adventure and play, yet he wasn’t a part of it at all. 

“Go on,” Belle called out past the pattering sound of water and the echo of her voice in the small space. Steam was beginning to rise around her and she stepped into water, letting it soak her hair and cover her body. “If we’re going to do this, you have to be ready.”

“Ready?” Rumple lifted his hands from his sides in a gesture of helplessness. “I don’t even know what I have to be ready for.”

“It was your idea to come in here. You asked me to choose and I did. I think I know you better than you know yourself, Rumplestiltskin. You know exactly what you have to be ready for.” Dripping with water, Belle turned to reach for the small bar of soap provided by the hotel, tore the paper off and returned it to the triangular shelf. That task complete, she made Rumple watch her slide the creamy white square over one shoulder, then the next. Her head turned back to eye him with lust when her hands ran up her sides, then disappeared out of his view. 

There was no hiding the fact that her palms were cupping her own breasts, pushing them up and gliding along their sides, massaging the soap over every part of them. Then, as the glass began to fog up, her arms snaked lower. Though her outline held a blur to it, Rumple could see the slow rise and fall of Belle’s arms as they worked the soap over her body, watched her lift one leg, then the other before putting the bar away. She rinsed them in the spray that fell from above and only then turned to face him, granting him the chance to watch as her hands dipped low again. 

With the distortion provided by the steam came an even more enlivening sensation of knowing and yet having to fill in everything that he couldn’t see. It was clear that Belle’s hands had settled in her most private places, one covering the dark shape at her center and the other cupping a breast, but the exact movements were so hidden that Rumple was forced to imagine them even as it was unfolding in front of his eyes. The very idea of what she was doing right in front of him sent his cock twitching. He wanted nothing more than to ease the growing stiffness, work at his body the way he knew she was working at hers, but he dared not. Taking care of his own needs while staring at her naked form felt too much like using her, and contrary to what so many believed, Belle had never been an object for him to claim in that way.

As if reading his mind, Belle stepped up to the glass, hands making prints in the steamy panes. She spread herself for him and let the soap trickle over her body in rivulets while she spoke. “I want you in here with me, but not until you’re ready.” There was a pause that probably accompanied a suggestion made by her crystal blue eyes, but her image was too distorted to know for sure. Aside from the distinct shape where her hand pressed to the glass, she was a beautiful blur of creamy curves and sensual movements, unable to be read. 

Desperate to join her, Rumple crossed the room and reached for the handle of the glass door, but Belle caught hold of it from the inside and held fast. 

“Not yet,” she said, voice echoing over the gentle tapping of water on tile. “You’re not ready.”

Just as Rumple was about to complain about the cryptic nature of her demands, it hit him what she was trying to do. They were tired and wonderfully spent yet he’d asked for one more time together, so Belle was trying to make the most of it, preparing each of them for a joining that would be blissful once it finally came. “How will you know when I’m ready?” He teased her as his eyes roamed over the glass. “If what you see is anything like what I see-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Belle’s body pressed close, soaking up the moisture that had settled on the shower’s clear wall and revealing a crisp, if distorted image. Every curve was now fully revealed to him, including the hand that continued to dip in and out of her center, working gently toward her pleasure. Rumple’s eyes tried to take all of her in at once, roaming up and down in dizzying circles until they settled on the familiar, yet strange breasts that were practically pressed against him. The once perfectly formed mounds were now slightly misshapen circles that seemed to have inhaled her nipples. The dark nubs were hard and beckoned to be sucked at, yet receded into her body, pressed there by the barrier that stood between them. The contrast between the three shapes and the perfectly flat, lighter circles was simply mesmerizing.

“You can join me, you know.” She called out to him like a siren, yet Rumple knew it wasn’t an invitation to step into the chamber.

It felt awkward, but he placed his palm to line up with hers on the glass, arranging his fingers to match hers precisely. He wanted to mirror her every move and knew that she’d been hoping for the same thing when a sharp gasp drifted through the gap above their heads. Aligning his body to match hers to near perfection, Rumple slowly pressed against the glass, chest first, then hips, and finally his forehead, touching the very spot where hers awaited him. Even though the room was hot with steam, the glass was almost cool and the contrast electrified him, sending a jolt of unexpected pleasure to the erection that was now trapped between his own body and the barrier that kept him from his one, true love.

The division was far more arousing than he ever would have imagined it could be. Belle was close enough that he should be able to touch her, yet he couldn’t and that denial made him desperate. “I don’t think I can-”

“You can come in when you’re close,” Belle told him, pulling away just far enough so that she could eye his body the way he had studied hers. She licked her lips as her eyes wandered lower and her hand began to move with more intent, fingers diving deeper with every thrust.

Deciding to copy every movement Belle made, Rumple’s hand pressed between his body and the smooth surface. He took himself in hand with a rougher touch than she would have used on him, but this was now about his pleasure and making certain she could witness it. Pumping slowly along his length, he tried to keep his body close, but gave up in the end, settling for hand and forehead so that he had more room to maneuver. 

This time Belle followed his lead, spreading her legs to match his stance and leaning forward as if he were supporting her with hand and forehead alone. Their gazes locked for a few breaths, until Belle’s eyes flicked down and Rumple smiled. Knowing she was watching him was as much of a turn on as seeing her had been he wanted to watch her expressions, become lost in her passions, just as he had downstairs at the piano, but soon that wasn’t enough. The desire for emotion became a need for pleasure and his eyes fell to to watch her pleasure there. While his hand stroked from base to tip, hers plunged into her folds, matching him stroke for stroke and he could almost imagine he was inside her. Knowing they were watching each other made even a breath intoxicating, but the knowledge that only a single pane of glass separated their naked bodies as they were being pleasured drove Rumple wild with desire.

“Belle,” Rumple moaned, forcing himself to close his eyes against the visual and physical sensations that were colliding into a single intensity. “I can’t much longer…”

With no regard for the water still cascading around her, Belle suddenly nudged open the door. “Then come in here.” Her hand caught his and pulled him inside, shutting them in together in the small space. “Do anything.”

He didn’t need any more encouragement and crumpled quickly to the tiled floor, where he sat and and arranged himself in front of her. It was a difficult fit for comfort, but the walls around him provided pressure points, so at least he wouldn’t slide around beneath her. “This isn’t going to last long,” he whispered as he guided her to straddle him, sinking deep into her heat with a moan. 

A heartbeat passed between them, maybe two, before Belle began to slide over him, moving almost the way she would in a rocking chair. She took all of him in one motion, then pulled away in the next and after only a few cycles, Rumple felt his whole body tense and shatter. At the same moment Belle’s body tightened around him and she cried out, pulsing around him in delightful waves.

Blissfully spent, Rumple became so lost in sensation that time itself seemed to stand still until everything vanished around them and it was only Belle’s soft skin against his that was real and true. After a while even the constant downpour from above seemed frozen in time, the steady droplets not even registering as they ran from Rumple’s skin. All he knew was the cool blue bliss that was Belle’s loving gaze.

“That was a little… beyond our norm,” he admitted after some time.

“Maybe not.” Belle fought a grin as she pressed her forehead to his, trying to cover her mischievous thoughts with her proximity.. “I’m thinking of how useful that overcoat is going to be. If this was anything like sitting in the rain, I might want one too.”

Rumple thought about that and imagined all of the trouble they could get in to on a rainy day with nothing but a single article of clothing between them. The image sent his mind spinning into a spiral of doubt and concern began to build in his stomach. “Did this city change us?” 

“Lacey and Spinner changed us,” Belle told him as she pressed her hand to his chest. “They introduced us to the freedoms we never allowed ourselves to have before.”

He thought about Lacey and what parts of that persona had been pulled from Belle’s deepest desire and wondered what it would have been like for them truly to have been cursed like that together and woken up with the memories of the many adventures that Spinner and Lacey had shared. “Remind me to thank Lacey, then,” he told Belle.

She nodded once before her lips crept to his for a kiss. “And I’ll thank Spinner.”


End file.
